Department for Transport

Railways: Timetables

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 148967, when it became apparent that Govia Thameslink Railway was unable to deliver all planned services according to the May 2018 timetable changes.

Joseph Johnson: Govia Thameslink Railway informed Ministers after they had implemented final roster changes that they were unable to deliver all their planned services.

Regional Airports: Air Routes

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) domestic and (b) international routes have ceased operating at regional airports since 2015.

Jesse Norman: Between 2015 and 2017 a) 18 domestic passenger routes and b) 51 international passenger routes have ceased operating at regional airports. These figures are based on scheduled flights departing from regional airports that operate at least weekly. With regard to domestic passenger routes, in the same period 18 routes have been created. The proposed Airports National Policy Statement sets out an expectation that expansion at Heathrow will deliver an additional six domestic routes. Separately, the Secretary of State has set out a clear ambition that about 15% of slots made available from a new runway will be used for domestic routes.

Network Rail: Property

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on small and medium sized businesses of Network Rail’s decision to sell its commercial property business.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail is one of Britain’s largest providers of commercial business space for small to medium sized businesses. Arches are increasingly popular for a range of uses and the majority of tenants are small independent businesses. Once the business is sold, all current leases will transfer to the new buyer and all lease arrangements and protections will be unchanged.

Northern: Standards

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the number of trains cancelled in April by Arriva Rail North has put it in default on its franchise obligations.

Joseph Johnson: There are a number of service recovery and force majeure claims that will have to be processed before officials are able to assess if Arriva Rail North is in contravention of the Franchise Agreement.

Train Operating Companies: Compensation

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 15 May 2003 to Question 113237 on rail strikes, whether rail franchise agreements still contain clauses to allow train operators to claim reimbursement of revenues lost as a result of official industrial action.

Joseph Johnson: All franchise agreements contain a standard clause under which train operating companies may approach the Secretary of State with a request for compensation for net losses that arise out of industrial action. Our records show no compensation payments under this clause have been made to train operating companies since 2006.

Northern: Compensation

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provision there is in the current Northern Rail franchise agreement for the train operator to be reimbursed by the government for revenues lost as a result of official industrial action.

Joseph Johnson: As provided for in all franchise agreements, the Secretary of State, in his discretion, may at any time decide to reimburse or ameliorate net losses of the Franchisee arising from Industrial Action (however caused and of whatever nature) in circumstances where the Franchisee has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State that it has taken all reasonable steps to avoid the Industrial Action and that, Industrial Action having nevertheless occurred, the Franchisee has taken all reasonable steps to mitigate its effects. Our records show no compensation payments under this clause have been made to train operating companies since 2006.

Northern: Compensation

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Arriva Rail North has asked the Government to reimburse it for revenues lost as a result of industrial action; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: Any such request would be a commercial matter between Arriva Rail North and the Secretary of State. However, no payments have been made under the relevant Franchise Agreement provisions.

Northern: Compensation

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Transport for the North or Rail North have agreed any claim by Arriva Rail North to reimburse it for revenues lost as a result of industrial action; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: This is a reserved matter for the Secretary of State. Transport for the North has no authority under the terms of the Partnership Agreement to agree to such a claim. Rail North Ltd has become part of Transport for the North. As stated in my answer of 21 June, UIN 152739, no payments have been made under the relevant Franchise Agreement provisions.

Northern: Compensation

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government is required to seek the agreement of (a) Transport for the North and (b) Rail North in the event that Arriva Rail North seeks reimbursement for revenues lost as a result of industrial action.

Joseph Johnson: This matter is reserved to the Secretary of State under the terms of the Partnership Agreement. Rail North Ltd has become part of Transport for the North.

Northern: Compensation

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Transport for the North or Rail North were consulted in respect of any request by Arriva Rail North to be  reimbursed for revenues lost as a result of industrial action; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: This matter is reserved to the Secretary of State under the terms of the Partnership Agreement. Rail North Ltd has become part of Transport for the North.

Northern: Compensation

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on whom the cost of compensating passengers inconvenienced by the emergency timetable introduced on Northern Rail falls.

Joseph Johnson: We recognise that passengers have faced an unacceptable level of disruption in the North. A special compensation scheme for inconvenienced passengers is being established and details will be announced by Transport for the North. This is an industry funded scheme which Network Rail are paying for in full from within their existing operational budgets. Network Rail have accepted that their late completion of upgrades has led to the significant disruption.

Railways: Trees

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trees have been felled alongside rail lines since June 2017.

Joseph Johnson: With 20,000 miles of track and millions of trees along the railway, ensuring vegetation is managed and the railway continues to be safe and reliable for the millions of people who use the network every day is a full time job for Network Rail. In the last year, there were more than a thousand incidents where trees caused disruption to the network as a result of storms, rain and wind. Network Rail estimate that around 50,000 trees a year are felled to ensure the safe and reliable running of the railway. This equates to 0.8% of the 6.2 million trees on the Network Rail estate. However, we do recognise that there are concerns which is why I recently announced a review into Network Rail’s vegetation management, which will including looking at whether Network Rail has the capacity and capability to manage vegetation in a way that minimises harm to wildlife.

Railway Stations: Brighton

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people who use Preston Park Station on a (a) week and (b) weekend day at (i) peak times and (ii) off peak times; by what mechanism the footfall at Preston Park Station was estimated prior to the changes to the timetable; what estimate has been made of the number of people who commute between Preston Park and London with a ticket which has Brighton as their departure or destination station; if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the mechanisms for estimating station use at stations which do not have ticket barriers; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Department collects some information on the number of passengers who use trains at selected stations, however it does not collect this information for Preston Park. Train operators use commercial passenger data and various modelling methods when making changes to the timetable. This data takes into account time of day, day of week and passengers using stations other than the one which is on their ticket. In addition, the Office of Rail and Road publishes annual estimates of the total numbers of people entering, exiting and changing trains at each station in Great Britain. These show that in 2016/17, the latest year for which information is published, there were 527 thousand journeys (of which 211 thousand were season ticket journeys) that started or ended at Preston Park. The methodology takes into account situations where passengers are travelling to or from a different destination to that on their ticket. For example, in the 2016/17 wave of ‘Estimates of Station Usage’, 88,372 entries and exits were reallocated from Brighton to Preston Park. You can find the data and methodology report through this link: http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

Govia Thameslink Railway: Compensation

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Govia Thameslink Railways trains that have been removed temporarily from the  May 2018 timetable will continue to appear on (a) train platforms display boards, (b) the National Railways website and (c) the National Railways phone app; and whether passengers will be able to claim appropriate delay and repay compensation against those trains.

Joseph Johnson: These customer facing systems are managed by the Train Operating Companies and third party suppliers. Where trains have been removed from the timetable in advance, they generally should not appear on these systems, whereas trains cancelled on the day will appear as cancellations. Passengers are encouraged to apply for Delay Repay. Delay Repay compensation is payable to passengers disrupted by 15 minutes or more on Govia Thameslink Railway services. Currently, compensation entitlements will be payable in relation to claims that are submitted either against the May 2018 timetable or in relation to the train service in place on the day of travel.

Southern

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long the training is for drivers to learn new routes on Southern services arising from the new timetable; and what proportion of the route learning time for a new route is (a) classroom based and (b) learning on the job.

Joseph Johnson: The average training length for a new train driver recruit will vary between Train Operating Companies, and will in part be determined by the complexity of the route(s) upon which the driver is being trained. However, we understand that training length can be up to or over a year. For existing drivers learning new routes, this will again vary depending upon factors such as the complexity of the route. The training of drivers for these new routes has been managed by the Train Operating Company who are best placed to answer queries around the specifics of the training detail. Route knowledge needs to be kept up to date and if a driver has not driven on a route for the past 6 months, they will need to undergo refresher training.

Govia Thameslink Railway

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Govia Thameslink Railway on that company's standards for driver training of new routes; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of safety planning and measures in place for learning of new routes; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The company standards regarding the safety, planning and measures for drivers to learn new routes are jointly managed by the Train Operating Company, Network Rail and the driver’s trade union ASLEF.

Network Rail

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Rail and Road in (a) monitoring and (b) regulating the performance of Network Rail in (i) 2017 and (ii) 2018.

Joseph Johnson: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is independent of government and accountable directly to Parliament. Within this framework, Ministers and senior officials of the Department for Transport meet with ORR’s Chair and Chief Executive regularly to discuss the measures ORR is taking to monitor and regulate the performance of Network Rail, including the Network Rail Monitor, which provides a comprehensive assessment of the company’s performance.

Railways: Standards

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department in its monitoring of the performance of (a) Arriva Rail North and (b) Govia Thameslink Railway; and whether he has plans to improve mechanisms for that monitoring.

Joseph Johnson: At the request of the Secretary of State for Transport, a full independent inquiry is being undertaken by the Office of Rail and Road, chaired by Professor Stephen Glaister and a final report is due by the end of 2018. The Department will take account of any recommendations the review makes to improve the functions and effectiveness all the key rail bodies, including the Department for Transport. In parallel with this inquiry, the Department will assess whether its franchisees have met their contractual obligations in respect of planning and delivering timetable change. Where franchisees are found to be materially in breach of their contractual obligations the Department will take the appropriate enforcement action against them.

Rail Delivery Group: Membership

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) Network Rail and (b) Direct Rail Services have spent on Rail Delivery Group membership fees since October 2016.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail’s membership fee to Rail Delivery Group is determined on an annual basis. The fee for the last two years are: 2016/17 £2.695m2017/18 £2.760m Direct Rail Services do not pay membership fees.

Rail Delivery Group: Membership

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to instruct the Office for Rail and Road to review the licence conditions of (a) Network Rail, (b) passenger operators and (c) freight operators whereby it is mandatory to become a licensed member of the Rail Delivery Group and to comply with the obligations of membership as set out in the RDG articles of association.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport currently has no plans to ask The Office for Rail and Road to review this particular licence condition. The Office of Rail and Road published a consultation on updating the Network Licence under which it holds Network Rail to account, on 12 June. However, the consultation does not propose any changes to the Rail Delivery Group requirement.

Rail Delivery Group: Membership

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) benefits and (b) value for money of the licence conditions for (i) Network Rail, (ii) passenger operators and (iii) freight operators whereby it is mandatory to become a licensed member of the Rail Delivery Group.

Joseph Johnson: The licence condition that stipulates membership of Rail Delivery Group (RDG) ensures that freight and passenger operators and Network Rail are united in delivering a long-term vision for the network as a whole, and that farebox revenue across the network is properly settled and distributed. The condition requires that organisations become licensed members of the RDG, and not necessarily fee-paying full members. However, licensed members can obtain full, fee-paying membership should they meet a turnover requirement of £100m per annum and following agreement by existing members. The Government is supportive of the Rail Delivery Group’s role of providing industry leadership in the railway to achieve better outcomes for rail users and taxpayers. We will continue to work closely with RDG to ensure they are well placed to provide the strategic leadership needed to deliver key reforms in the railway.

Railways: North of England

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of upgrades to the Northern Trans-Pennine routes on the availability of paths for (a) intermodal and (b) bulk rail freight traffic.

Joseph Johnson: The Department of Transport has asked Network Rail, as part of the development work for the Transpennine Route Upgrade, to provide options for freight capacity and capability on this route. This development work is still ongoing and no final decision will made on the scope of the upgrade, including options for freight, until the outline business case is completed and the costs, benefits and affordability are properly understood.

Lakeside Energy from Waste

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of how long the relocation of Lakeside Energy from Waste will take in the event of a third runway being constructed at Heathrow Airport.

Jesse Norman: The Government has not undertaken a separate assessment of how long it would take to relocate the plant because relocation is not necessary from a statutory or policy perspective. However if relocation was to take place, the Airports Commission estimated that the process may take five years.

Heathrow Airport: Construction

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the water bodies required to prevent a deterioration of water body status in the event of a third runway being constructed at Heathrow.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has estimated the time it will take to decontaminate land before a third runway can be constructed at Heathrow.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has estimated the quantity of contaminated land that will need to be decontaminated before a third runway can be constructed at Heathrow.

Jesse Norman: In the Appraisal of Sustainability (AoS) that accompanies the proposed Airports National Policy Statement (NPS), the Government has undertaken a high level assessment of the effect on the water environment of the Heathrow Northwest Runway scheme. The proposed Airports NPS sets out the requirements in relation to water quality and resources which any applicant for a Development Consent Order would need to meet. This potentially includes the effects on water bodies or protected areas under the Water Framework Directive. The Government has not estimated the time it will take to decontaminate land. This a matter that would need to be addressed as part of any application for development consent. The AoS identifies a range of sources and pathways for contamination within the site boundary. These include two active landfills, 16 historic landfills and 11 registered pollution incidents, five of which are classified as significant.

Lakeside Waste From Energy

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has identified waste disposal facilities in south-east England with like-for-like spare capacity to deal with the closure of Lakeside Energy from Waste in the event of a third runway being constructed at Heathrow.

Jesse Norman: The Government has not sought to identify specific like for like energy from waste facilities to manage the loss of the Lakeside plant. DEFRA’s assessment used publicly available data on waste disposal held by the Environment Agency to confirm that the Lakeside energy from waste plant is not a strategic asset.

Heathrow Airport: Construction

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the expansion of Heathrow Airport on the (a) economy of (i) the West Midlands, (ii) Birmingham and (b) sustainability of  (A) Birmingham Airport and (B) East Midlands Airport.

Jesse Norman: The Department has undertaken an economic assessment of the effect of a new runway at Heathrow at a national level, taking account of all regions. Businesses from across the UK, including the West Midlands, will benefit as an expanded Heathrow delivers greater connectivity for both passengers and freight, with nearly six million additional trips from passengers outside of London and the South East being made via an expanded Heathrow in 2040. The Government is clear that while a Northwest Runway at Heathrow will help to secure the UK’s status as a global aviation hub, regional airports will continue to develop their point-to-point networks. The department’s aviation forecasts show that passenger numbers and international flights at airports outside of London are expected to increase by 80 per cent and 71 per cent respectively between 2016 and 2050 with a third runway at Heathrow. These forecasts show demand exists for airports such as Birmingham and East Midlands to continue to grow alongside any expansion in the South East, while individual airport commercial strategies could help them to grow even further. Lastly, as the Secretary of State set out in his oral statement on 05 June, any new operational runway at Heathrow is still a number of years away. This is why the Government supports airports beyond Heathrow, like Birmingham and East Midlands Airports, making best use of their existing runways. However, the Government recognises that the development of airports can have positive and negative effects, including on noise levels. We consider that any proposals should be judged on their individual merits by the relevant planning authority, taking careful account of all relevant considerations, particularly economic and environmental.

Railways: Season Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Passenger Rail Usage statistics, published by the Office for Road and Rail on 14 June 2018 that reports a 9.2 per cent fall in season ticket journeys; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 20 June 2018



The Department reviews the suitability of its policies on an ongoing basis and takes into account new evidence when available. Whilst there has been a fall in journeys made using season tickets, there has been a 4% increase in journeys made using other ticket types. The recent decline in journeys made using season tickets has been observed over a short period following a longer-term trend of sustained growth, and the Department will continue to keep this under review. Passengers should have more choice in their ticket options and the Secretary of State includes a requirement for bidders to develop flexible ticketing offers for those who work or commute part-time in all franchise competitions. The Department is also undertaking new research to explore the number of journeys made per season ticket to understand further the impact of changing travel behaviour.

Railways: Season Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take into account the Passenger Rail Usage statistics, published by the Office of Road and Rail on 14 June 2018 on season ticket usage, in the development of policy on part-time rail season tickets.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 20 June 2018



We continue to look into ways to improve the offer for passengers who work part time. The Secretary of State now includes a requirement for bidders to develop flexible ticketing offers for those who work or commute part-time in all franchise competitions. In developing such offers train operators should make use of both official statistics and their own commercial data.

Railways: Timetables

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to assess whether (a) GTR and (b) Northern met their contractual obligations in the planning and implementation of the timetable change.

Joseph Johnson: Work has commenced by officials to assess whether either franchise has been in breach of its contractual obligations as a result of the May 2018 timetable change.

Heathrow Airport: Construction

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an estimate of the Co2 emissions resulting from the construction of a third runway at Heathrow.

Jesse Norman: The Government has considered the carbon effects of the construction and operation of an expanded Heathrow and agrees with the Airports Commission’s assessment that the Heathrow Northwest Runway scheme can be delivered within the UK’s climate change commitments. Heathrow Airport Limited has committed to a package of measures including introducing an airside ultra-low emissions zone by 2025 before the operation of any new runway. They have also committed to using low-carbon and locally-sourced materials in construction, and using sustainable transport methods for materials and public transport for construction workers. The Appraisal of Sustainability (AoS) that accompanies the proposed Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) provides a strategic level assessment of the potential social, economic, and environmental effects of expansion, including on carbon emissions. The AoS has been published on the DfT’s website and the relevant information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/appraisal-of-sustainability-for-the-proposed-airports-national-policy-statement

Heathrow Airport

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on the global competitiveness of Heathrow Airport of an increase in landing charges at that airport of  (a) £1, (b) £2, (c) £3, (d) £4, (e) £5 and (f) £10.

Jesse Norman: The Secretary of State set out a clear ambition in 2016 for airport charges to remain as close as possible to current levels. In the context of expansion, the Civil Aviation Authority will determine an appropriate level of airport charges in line with its statutory duty to further the interest of consumers. The CAA set out in its April consultation that there are credible scenarios in which expansion can be delivered affordably and financeably with airport charges remaining close to current levels – in line with the Secretary of State’s ambition. Separately, Heathrow have also set out potential scheme savings of up to £2.5 billion and confirmed they are confident they can deliver the Secretary of State’s ambition. Both the Government and the Airport Commission undertook sensitivity analysis which showed that even if airport charges did rise this would not materially affect the case for expansion. By contrast, the Government is absolutely clear of the effect of not taking forward expansion; doing nothing could cost around £21 - £23 billion to passengers and around £30 - £45 billion to the wider economy over 60 years.

Regional Airports

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Table 3.7 of the Department for Transport’s Updated Appraisal Report Airport Capacity in the South East and pursuant to his statement to the House of 5 June 2018 on Airports National Policy Statement, Official Report, column 169, what the evidential basis is that the measures in the Airports National Policy Statement would enable regional airports to increase their number of flights.

Jesse Norman: A Northwest Runway at Heathrow will improve the UK’s connectivity, with more frequent services to important destinations around the world, providing benefits for passengers and freight-operators across the UK. While Heathrow expansion will help to secure the UK’s status as a global aviation hub, we will also see airports across the country continuing to develop their point-to-point networks. The table referred to shows that passenger numbers at airports outside of London are expected to increase by 80 per cent between 2016 and 2050 with a third runway at Heathrow, with the equivalent increase in flights being 71 per cent. The Government recognises that all three schemes for expansion in the South East are projected to result in regional airports experiencing lower growth in flights than they would have otherwise seen without expansion, but there is still expected to be strong growth at non-London airports relative to today. Crucially, the Department’s forecasts do not take into account the ability of the scheme promoter and Government to strengthen specific routes, or other measures to enhance regional connectivity. In addition, the modelling does not take account of future commercial strategies that individual airports could employ to take advantage of the opportunities from both growing demand outside of London and the greater connections offered by an expanded Heathrow. Therefore, it is not surprising that Heathrow expansion is supported by a range of UK airports across all parts of the country, including Liverpool-John Lennon, Glasgow and Newquay.

Heathrow Airport Limited

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 11 June 2018 on Contingency Liability: Notification (HCWS748), whether his Department’s decision to provide taxpayer indemnities to Heathrow Airport Limited is contingent on the third Runway proceeding.

Joseph Johnson: The contingent liabilities entered into as part of the tripartite deal between the Department, Heathrow Airport and First Greater Western were about securing the future of the Heathrow Express services and delivering significant benefits to the Department, such as the savings generated from not building a replacement depot for Heathrow Express rolling stock at Langley as part of the HS2 scheme. They are not contingent on the third Runway proceeding.

Heathrow Airport Limited

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an estimate on the level of debt liable to the public purse in the event that the Airports National Policy Statement is approved by Parliament but Heathrow Airport Limited is unable to finance its expansion.

Jesse Norman: The Government is clear that the Northwest Runway scheme at Heathrow will be financed by the private sector without Government support. In the event that Heathrow Airport Limited were unable to finance its scheme, there would be no default cost to Government. The Government and its advisers have undertaken considerable assurance work on the financial viability of Heathrow Airport Limited's scheme. Given the transformative nature of the scheme, there will almost certainly be various risks and challenges that will need to be addressed as the scheme design and regulatory framework are developed. The Government has concluded that, so far as can be assessed at this early stage of the process, in current market conditions Heathrow Airport Limited appears in principle to be able to finance expansion privately and without Government support.

Heathrow Airport: Construction

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the strength of the steel industry of the commitment by Heathrow Airport Limited to follow public sector procurement rules on steel purchasing as part of its expansion programme.

Jesse Norman: The Government welcomes Heathrow Airport Limited’s (HAL) commitment to follow public sector procurement rules for its purchases of steel. It is one of a number of commitments HAL has already made to British industry, including the development of supply chain hubs across the country and that 95 per cent of the procurement spend will be with the UK supply chain. The Government has not made an assessment of the effect that this commitment will have on the strength of the UK steel industry. HAL’s own assessment is that expansion at Heathrow will require tens of thousands of tonnes of steel, securing hundreds of jobs across the industry.

High Speed Two: Staff

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 152623 on High Speed Two: Staff, if he will publish the (a) salary scales of those new employees and (b) the numbers of those new employees in each such salary scale.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: All staff employed by HS2 Ltd are subject to the following pay bands; bands up to Band 23 are listed in the table below. HS2 Ltd senior salaries over £150,000 per annum are published annually by the Cabinet Office here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/senior-officials-high-earners-salaries Joiners & GradesLondonRegionalGradesNumber of Joiners 2018MinMaxMinMax1112£23,400£35,150£20,900£31,3001210£25,050£37,600£22,300£33,500136£28,400£42,600£25,250£37,9001428£33,850£50,800£30,150£45,25015*£36,550£54,900£32,600£48,9001629£39,250£58,900£36,300£54,4501713£43,750£65,600£40,750£61,1501822£53,850£80,800£47,450£71,150197£63,050£94,550£54,500£81,75020*£79,300£119,000£67,450£101,20021*£91,000£136,500£84,300£126,500220These are Senior Level positions & would be included on Transparency DataThese are Senior Level positions & would be included on Transparency Data233TOTAL143 * As the total number of new employees at these grades numbers 5 or less, and could be used to identify individuals (which would be in breach of data protection principles) we are not specifying the number at this grade.

Bus Services: Concessions

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the age at which each issuing local authority offers older person's bus passes for (a) women and (b) men.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Eligibility for the statutory scheme is the same in all local authorities throughout England and is currently rising for men and women in line with the equalisation of the retirement age for both at sixty-five. However, Local Authorities have powers to implement discretionary enhancements to the statutory concession, including offering a concession to older people below the eligible pension age. The Department’s annual concessionary travel survey monitors the availability of such discretionary concessions, and the most recent dataset can be found on the Department’s statistics page on the GOV.UK website at:http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus08-concessionary-travel/

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the notice to proceed on the main civils works concept and design stage of High Speed 2 Phase 1 has been extended from November 2018 to June 2019; and for what reasons that extension has been so made.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Notice to Proceed is the point at which the Phase One Main Works Civils suppliers are authorised by HS2 Ltd to proceed to Stage 2 of the contracts (detailed design and construction). HS2 Ltd is the procurement authority for the Main Works Civils contracts. All decisions related to this procurement are made by HS2 Ltd’s Board. Having carried out the biggest ground investigation exercise this country has ever seen, involving some 8,000 bore holes, HS2 Ltd are now using the knowledge gained, along with the European expertise in each Joint Venture to complete the initial design phase. This process will drive out risk and increase cost certainties prior to starting construction. HS2 Ltd’s Board has recently decided to move the date of Notice to Proceed from 1 March 2019 to 1 June 2019 in order to provide suppliers with additional time to optimise their designs. HS2 Ltd’s latest advice to Government is that Phase One service opening dates are unaffected.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the initial cost estimates for the four joint ventures working on the seven packages of the civils works contracts on High Speed 2 Phase 1 submitted at the end of the third checkpoint have come in over their original budget; and by how much each such (a) joint venture and (b) package has so gone over that budget.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: In July 2017 HS2 Ltd awarded Stage 1 of seven Main Works Civils Contracts (MWCCs) to four joint venture companies. Stage 1 activities include design works that enable the suppliers to confirm and agree the price and schedule for the subsequent (Stage 2) detailed design and construction. There are a series of gateway reviews which lead to an agreed price and schedule prior to Notice to Proceed, and suppliers have recently submitted responses to the third (out of six) gateway review. HS2 Ltd is currently working with the joint ventures to progress design development and agree final cost estimates for the Main Works Civils for Phase One. HS2 Ltd is still in commercial discussions with these joint ventures and has not yet authorised Stage 2 of these contracts. It is not appropriate to set out detailed cost estimates for each package at this stage as this information is commercially sensitive and also incomplete. HS2 Ltd and the suppliers will work together to ensure the successful delivery of HS2 within the agreed budget. In the event that acceptable prices cannot be agreed HS2 Ltd can re-tender specific contracts. The Department for Transport will set out a full affordability assessment as part of the Full Business Case for Phase One, which will be published prior to Notice to Proceed.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been paid to each of the four joint ventures working on High Speed 2 Phase 1.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Approximately £173.2m has been spent to 18th June excluding VAT. This represents around 2.6% of total contract value.

Trailers

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has signed confidentiality agreements with businesses involved in the trials of longer semi-trailers; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Operators taking part in the trial signed an undertaking stating that the raw data is to be submitted to Risk Solutions, the independent company managing the trial evaluation, rather than to the Department for Transport (DfT). Information can also be submitted to Risk Solutions by operators marked commercially confidential. The Department for Transport and Risk Solutions have further agreed that the data files will be held on secure systems by Risk Solutions; will not be shared with DfT and will only be used solely for analysis in connection with this trial; will only appear in analysis in a form that does not allow identification of individual companies; and will be securely deleted at the end of the trial. This agreement has been published as a commitment to all operators.

Trailers

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's trial of longer semi-trailers of travel on (a) urban and (b) minor roads, what assessment he has made of the effect of those trailers on other road users.

Jesse Norman: The effect on other road users is being assessed in two ways, recording both safety and emissions/congestion.All safety incidents on the public highway (also including at service areas, car parks etc.) are reportable under the terms of the trial. The injury incident rates (per km) for longer semi-trailers compared to other articulated HGVs were noted in the 2016 Annual Report. The longer semi-trailers on the trial are being operated more safely than the trailers they replace both nationally and on roads in urban areas, with the injury incident rate being around 30% of the rate for all articulated HGVs.The reduction in the number of trips required to deliver the same goods also benefits other road users in terms of reduced injury risk exposure, as well as emissions/pollution and congestion. Where longer semi-trailers are used, the 2016 Annual Report showed an average saving of one in 20 journeys (5%) across all operators rising to one in 9 ((11.5%) for those operators consistently using the trailers at maximum loading.

Trailers

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the mileage driven on (a) urban and (b) rural minor roads in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales was of longer semi-trailers in his Department's trials in 2016 and 2017.

Jesse Norman: The 2016 Longer Semi-trailer mileage figures can be found on page 19 of the 2016 Annual Report which is available online. The trailers are not all fitted with GPS so estimates of urban/rural or other location information is being generated using route modelling based on the start and end postcodes of each journey. The initial modelling of 2016 data, for which both start and end postcodes were available, produced an average figures of 8% Urban (defined as Urban and Non-Motorway).The 2017 annual report will be published in September 2018. It will contain 2017 data, including a breakdown by both urban/rural (based on ONS areas) and by road type (Trunk/Principal/Minor). The data has not been broken down by nation.

Heathrow Airport: Construction

Mrs Kemi Badenoch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has his Department made of the effect of Heathrow expansion on airport capacity in (a) the South East and (b) Stansted Airport.

Jesse Norman: The Government recognises that all three schemes for expansion in the South East are projected to result in other airports experiencing lower growth in flights than they would have otherwise seen. However, while a Northwest Runway at Heathrow will help to secure the UK’s status as a global aviation hub, other airports will continue to develop their point-to-point networks. The Department’s aviation forecasts show that passenger numbers and flights at airports within the South East (excluding Heathrow) will increase by 33 per cent and 20 per cent respectively between 2016 and 2050 with expansion at Heathrow. London is the largest aviation origin and destination market in the world, and the forecasts show demand for this market growing further. This will continue to provide opportunities for airports around London and in the South East, including Stansted, to increase their services alongside any expansion at Heathrow over the longer term. Individual airport commercial strategies – which are not modelled – could help these airports to grow even faster and further. Lastly, as the Secretary of State set out in his oral statement on 05 June, any new operational runway at Heathrow is still a number of years away. This is why Government supports airports beyond Heathrow making best use of their existing runways. However, the Government recognises that the development of airports can have positive and negative effects, including on noise levels, and it considers that any proposals should be judged on their individual merits by the appropriate planning authority, taking careful account of all relevant considerations, particularly economic and environmental.

South Western Railway: Compensation

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 15 May 2003 to Question 113237 on rail strikes, whether (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have had discussions with South Western railway in the last twelve months on reimbursing that company for revenue lost as a result of official industrial action.

Joseph Johnson: Any such discussions would be a commercial matter between South Western Railway and the Secretary of State and his Officials.

South Western Railway: Compensation

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 15 May 2003 to Question 113237 on rail strikes, whether South Western Railway has made an application in the last twelve months for reimbursement for revenues lost as a result of official industrial action.

Joseph Johnson: Any such request would be a commercial matter between South Western Railway and the Secretary of State. However, no payments have been made under the relevant Franchise Agreement provisions.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Energy: Rural Areas

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with energy providers on promoting renewable energy use in rural homes.

Claire Perry: Ministers regularly discuss a range of issues with energy suppliers. The Rural Community Energy Fund provides funding for feasibility studies for rural communities to develop, own and generate their own energy. The Feed-in Tariff scheme also remains open for projects across the UK, including community projects. There remains up to £100m of support for small scale renewables through the Feed-in Tariff up to 2019. As we set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, we are currently considering options for our approach to small scale low carbon generation beyond 2019. We will make a statement on future support for small scale renewables in due course.

Fracking: Public Consultation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement HCWS690 of 17 May 2018, what the timetable is for (a) the consultation on the principle of whether non-hydraulic fracturing shale exploration development should be treated as permitted development, (b) the consultation on the inclusion of shale production projects in the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime and (c) the consultation on the establishment of a new Shale Environmental Regulator.

Claire Perry: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government set out in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS690 of 17 May 2018, that we will progress manifesto commitments by holding an early stage consultation in summer 2018, on the principle of whether non-hydraulic fracturing shale exploration development should be treated as permitted development, and in particular on the circumstances in which this might be appropriate. We will consult in summer 2018 on the criteria required to trigger the inclusion of shale production projects into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime. The UK regulatory regime for shale gas is considered among the most robust and stringent in the world. However, we acknowledge that it is also complex, with three regulators, the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Oil and Gas Authority, all with responsibilities for regulation. We will set up a Shale Environmental Regulator on a virtual basis from the summer. This will bring the regulators together to act as one coherent single face for the public, mineral planning authorities and industry,

Natural Gas

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the (a) implications for his policies of the Debunked: The G20 Clean Gas Myth report of 11 June 2018 and (b) compatibility of the UK’s investment in the extraction of gas with its commitments on the Paris climate change agreement.

Claire Perry: The UK must have safe, secure and affordable supplies of energy with carbon emissions levels that are consistent with the carbon budgets defined in our Climate Change Act and our international obligations.We believe that gas has a key part to play in meeting these objectives both currently and in the future. In part as a result of the UK’s diverse range of energy sources, which include natural gas, we have had competitively-priced energy since 1990 whilst reducing carbon emissions across the economy by 49% – a leading performance among developed nations.Gas still makes up around a third of our current energy usage and every scenario proposed by the Committee on Climate Change setting out how the UK could meet its legally-binding 2050 emissions reduction target includes demand for natural gas.As set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, innovations in technologies such as Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) have the potential to decarbonise this energy supply still further and prolong its role in our energy mix.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on its plans to reform the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Claire Perry: On 22 May 2018, amendment regulations came into force, completing the main suite of RHI reforms that were announced in December 2016. On 29 May 2018, the Department published the government response to a consultation in Autumn 2017 on further changes to the non-domestic RHI, and laid the associated regulations. Together these reforms are designed to improve value for money, prevent gaming, shift deployment towards technologies needed for long-term decarbonisation of heat and to strengthen consumer protection.

Sellafield

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) availability and (b) reliability of financial backers for Moorside nuclear reactor in Cumbria.

Richard Harrington: The availability and reliability of financial backers for the Moorside nuclear project is a commercial matter for Toshiba, who own NuGen, the developer of the Moorside site. We continue to engage closely with NuGen, as we do for other new build developers on a range of issues relevant to delivering new nuclear projects.

Wylfa Power Station

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has set a maximum figure above which the Government will not provide (a) finance and (b) guarantees for the Wylfa nuclear power project.

Richard Harrington: As announced in Parliament on 4 June 2018, Hitachi and the UK Government have decided to enter into negotiations in relation to the proposed Wylfa Newydd project and the Government is considering direct investment into the project. Details of any Government investment are subject to negotiation and yet to be decided. The successful conclusion of these negotiations will be subject to full Government, regulatory and other approvals—including, but not limited to, value for money, due diligence and state aid requirements. These negotiations are commercially sensitive and no final decision has yet been taken to proceed with the project.

Climate Change and Environment: EU Law

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that UK maintains all EU climate change and environmental regulations in UK law after the UK leaves the EU.

Claire Perry: The EU (Withdrawal) Bill will ensure existing EU environmental law continues to have effect in UK law after exit, providing businesses and stakeholders with maximum certainty as we leave the EU. Leaving the EU will not change any of our domestic statutory commitments to reduce our emissions, as laid out in the Climate Change Act 2008 – indeed, those commitments are more ambitious and challenging than those set by EU legislation. We have no intention of weakening our current environmental protections as we leave the EU. The UK has a long history of environmental protection and we will safeguard and improve on this record. As my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister stated, ‘Brexit will not mean a lowering of environmental standards’.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to match the Scottish Government's interim target reducing emissions by 56 per cent by 2020.

Claire Perry: We have an ambitious UK wide target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, supported by ambitious carbon budget targets which are set until 2032. Our focus is on delivering these targets through implementation of our Clean Growth Strategy. We welcome all ambitious targets set by devolved administrations as they count towards are overall UK targets.

Carbon Emissions

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to match the Scottish Government's target of reducing carbon emissions by 90 per cent by 2050.

Claire Perry: The Government announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April that we will be seeking advice from the UK’s independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emission reduction targets after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report later this year. The Clean Growth Strategy made clear that the Government believes the UK will need to legislate for a net zero emissions target at an appropriate point in the future, to provide legal certainty on where the UK is heading.

Energy: Prices

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to establish a subsidy-free contracts for difference price stabilisation mechanism in the energy market.

Claire Perry: No decisions have been made to establish a subsidy-free contracts for difference price stabilisation mechanism in the energy market.

Offshore Industry

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on allocating additional resources to support the oil and gas sector in the increase of production.

Claire Perry: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer regularly meet to discuss a range of issues, including the oil and gas industry. In recent years the Government has provided unprecedented levels of financial support to the sector, paid for by UK tax payers, and we have seen an increase in production since 2015. A great improvement in industry productivity.

Wylfa Power Station

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether (a) Hitachi and (b) other private sector companies will be financially liable for safety failures at the proposed Wylfa Newydd power station.

Richard Harrington: As announced in my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s statement to Parliament on 4th June 2018, the Government has decided to enter into negotiations with Hitachi over the Wylfa Newydd new nuclear project. Safety and security are of paramount importance and the UK has a robust and effective regulatory regime. No final decisions have been taken to proceed with the project. The successful conclusion of these negotiations will be subject to full Government, regulatory and other approvals—including, but not limited to, value for money, due diligence and state aid requirements. These negotiations are commercially sensitive and no final decision has yet been taken to proceed with the project.

Unpaid Work

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2018 to Question 149681 on Unpaid Work, when his Department plans to publish guidance for people who have undertaken unpaid work trials.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government is clear that exploitative unpaid work trials are unacceptable, and will take action against employers misusing them. HM Revenue and Customers respond to 100% of worker complaints received. Short unpaid work trials may be acceptable when they are part of a genuine recruitment exercise. On 13 June I met trade unions, employers and lawyers to seek views on a draft of new Government guidance on this subject. The Government plans to come forward with further detail shortly.

Climate Change Convention

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to instruct the Committee on Climate Change to report on the steps required for the UK to meet the Paris Agreement.

Claire Perry: As I announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April, the Government will be seeking the advice of the Committee on Climate Change on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emission reduction targets after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report later this year.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Liability

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on how many occasions his Department has been unable to notify Parliament of the particulars of a liability and thus fulfil the required 14 days’ notice prior to that liability going live in the last 12 months.

Richard Harrington: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has had no instances of contingent liabilities created over the last 12 months where the Department has failed to follow the process set out in Managing Public Money, for contingent liabilities created outside the course of normal business. During this period, the Department did lay a parliamentary minute for a Contingent Liability relating to Mercator, and whilst the full 14 sitting day notice was not followed in this instance, Parliament was notified and the processes for late notification followed.

Energy Companies Obligation

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Energy Company Obligation measures have been delivered to off-gas grid homes using (a) heating oil and (b) liquefied petroleum gas.

Claire Perry: The Energy Company Obligation delivered approximately 69,000 measures to oil heated homes and 8,000 measures to liquefied petroleum gas heated homes that are not thought to have a mains gas supply between January 2013 and March 2018.

Energy Companies Obligation: High Peak

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Energy Company Obligation measures have been delivered to off-gas grid homes using (a) heating oil and (b) LPG in the High Peak constituency.

Claire Perry: The Energy Company Obligation delivered approximately 30 measures to oil or liquefied petroleum gas heated homes in High Peak constituency that are not thought to have a mains gas supply between January 2013 and March 2018. Due to the small sample we are not able to provide a breakdown between oil and liquefied petroleum gas, due to disclosure issues.

Energy Companies Obligation: Rural Areas

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how obligated Energy Company Obligation suppliers identify off-gas grid homes for the purposes of the rural sub-obligation of the Energy Company Obligation.

Claire Perry: Obligated suppliers can identify off-gas grid homes through off-grid maps. There are several maps and data available online that suppliers could use. Maps such as those found on Xoserve.com and nongasmap.com can be detailed enough to show postcodes in off-gas grid areas. Government also publishes local authority area statistics of households not connected to the gas network.Those off-gas grid could be supported under ECO with the installation of a first time central heating system, and this support can be linked to connection to the gas grid under the Fuel Poverty Network Extension Scheme. This scheme requires gas distribution companies to extend their network to communities where fuel poverty is high.

Energy Companies Obligation: Rural Areas

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will mandate ECO3-obligated suppliers to deliver a minimum number of energy efficiency measures to off-grid homes under the rural sub-obligation of the Energy Company Obligation.

Claire Perry: Department has recently consulted on the future ECO scheme that will run from October 2018 until March 2022.This consultation proposed that the future scheme have a 15% rural sub-obligation to safeguard delivery for rural homes. Within that sub-obligation, the consultation also proposed that measures delivered to off-grid homes continue to receive an uplift (i.e. increased score) to encourage delivery to off-grid homes.The response to the consultation will be published shortly.

Energy Intensive Industries

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to help reduce energy prices for (a) the UK steel industry and (b) other energy intensive industries in the UK to bring them in line with their EU counterparts.

Claire Perry: We recognise that our industrial electricity costs are currently higher than some of our EU counterparts, but we already provide substantial compensation to eligible energy intensive industries (EIIs), including sectors such as steel, for the cumulative cost of energy and climate change policies, reducing the impact of these policies on their electricity bills by up to around 80%. This package of relief for EIIs is worth over £800 million since 2013. Ensuring that the UK is competitive on the energy costs faced by manufacturing industry is an important element of our Industrial Strategy.

Agriculture: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason emissions from agricultural farming in the greenhouse gas national inventory report do not include emissions from (a) feed produced overseas, (b) transportation, (c) cooking, (d) food waste, (e) refrigeration, (f) air conditioning, (g) waste disposal and (h) soils treated with nitrogen fertilisers.

Claire Perry: The UK is an Annex I party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC adopted the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/) for Annex I countries in Decision 24/CP.19. The UK is thus required to make use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines in the compilation of the UK’s greenhouse gas inventory. These guidelines define four sectors: Energy, Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Waste. The guidelines also define national greenhouse gas inventories as including only emissions which take place within each country’s territorial boundary. This applies to your question as follows:a) emissions from feed produced overseas are out of scope of national greenhouse gas inventoriesb) emissions from transportation are included in the Energy sectorc) emissions from cooking are included in the Energy sectord) emissions from food waste are included in the Waste sectore) emissions from refrigeration are included in the Energy and IPPU sectorsf) emissions from air conditioning are included in the Energy and IPPU sectorsg) emissions from waste disposal are included in the Waste sectorh) emissions from soils treated with nitrogen fertilisers are included in the AFOLU sector

Home Energy and Lifestyle Management: Kilmarnock and Loudoun

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many green deal finance loans have been provided of (a) up to 5 year payback duration, (b) 5-10 year payback duration, (c) 10-15 year payback duration, (d) 15-20 year payback duration and (e) greater than 20 year payback duration via the company HELMS in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.

Claire Perry: There were 162 Green Deal Finance plans provided by Home Energy Lifestyle Management Limited in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency. Due to disclosure issues we are unable to publish the 5-10 and 10-15 year payback periods separately. Duration of loan at start of planNumber of plansup to 5 year payback duration05-15 year payback duration515-20 year payback duration0greater than 20 year payback duration157

Home Energy and Lifestyle Management: Scotland

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households with PV panels installed by HELMS have the feed-in tariff transferred to a third party rather than the household with the panel in (a) Scotland and (b) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.

Claire Perry: This information is not available as it is not held on the Central Feed-In Tariff Register which is administered by Ofgem.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israel: Palestinians

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department holds information on the number of (a) Palestinian (i) civilians and (ii) militants and (b) Israeli (i) civilians and (ii) militants wounded in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the last year.

Alistair Burt: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 06 June 2018.The correct answer should have been:

​Public reports suggest that from June 2017 until 4 June 2018, 6 91 Israelis, 2 of them soldiers, and over 190 16,200 Palestinians have been wounded killed.The British Government does not compile an independent assessment of whether those killed wounded could be classified as civilians or militants. We call on the relevant authorities to ensure that any incident involving loss of life is investigated thoroughly and transparently.

Alistair Burt: ​Public reports suggest that from June 2017 until 4 June 2018, 6 91 Israelis, 2 of them soldiers, and over 190 16,200 Palestinians have been wounded killed.The British Government does not compile an independent assessment of whether those killed wounded could be classified as civilians or militants. We call on the relevant authorities to ensure that any incident involving loss of life is investigated thoroughly and transparently.

Non-governmental Organisations: EU Grants and Loans

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability of UK registered non-governmental organisations to apply for funding under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights 2014-2020, established under European Parliament and Council Regulation No. 235/2014 (a) during the transitional period  and (b) after the UK has left the EU.

Mark Field: Council Regulation No. 236/2014 on the common rules and procedures for the EU’s Instruments for financing External Action applies to the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (established under Council Regulation No 235/2014). The Common Implementing Regulation sets no nationality requirement to be eligible for funding under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. Non-governmental organisations should be unaffected by UK Exit both during the Implementation Period and after the UK has left the EU.

EU Grants and Loans

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to continue to contribute to the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights 2014-2020 budget after the UK leaves the EU.

Mark Field: ​In the Withdrawal Agreement we have agreed to honour commitments made during the period of our European Union membership. This includes paying our share of any budgetary commitments made up until the end of our current budget plan.

Saudi Arabia: Overseas Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his Written Ministerial Statement of 23 May 2018, HCWS716, whether the additional support to Saudi Arabia will include (a) military and (b) medical support.

Alistair Burt: The British Government is working with Saudi Arabia to mitigate the threat from missiles fired from Yemen across the border into Saudi Arabia. UK personnel are providing information, advice and assistance limited to this objective. For reasons of operational security further details of this support are not being provided.

Nabeel Rajab

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Bahraini authorities on the Bahraini Court of Appeal's decision to uphold the sentence against the human rights activist Nabeel Rajab.

Alistair Burt: Our Embassy in Bahrain has closely monitored the trials of Mr Rajab. Officials from the Embassy regularly attend Mr Rajab's court hearings, including the latest appeal verdict hearing. We have raised this case at senior levels. I am aware that there is now an opportunity for Mr Rajab's legal team to apply to the Court of Cassation to hear an appeal on this latest sentence. Our officials will continue to monitor the case closely.I expressed my concerns on the sentence in my written statement of 21 February. I also reiterated the UK's call for Bahrain to protect freedom of expression for all its citizens, in line with their international obligations.

Zimbabwe: Visits Abroad

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2018 to Question 136506 on Zimbabwe: visits abroad, whether a date has now been set for his visit to Zimbabwe.

Harriett Baldwin: No date has been set, but the Foreign Secretary still hopes to visit Zimbabwe in 2018.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Humanitarian Aid

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the steps being taken to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK regularly raises with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the need to tackle the root causes of conflict and insecurity that are driving the humanitarian crisis in the country. The holding of elections in December 2018 and a peaceful and democratic transfer of power will be critical to longer-term peace and stability in the DRC.I visited the DRC in April, where I saw first-hand the impact of the conflict and insecurity upon the Congolese population. I announced a further contribution of £22 million to the humanitarian appeal for the DRC, bringing UK aid's support to £227 million over 5 years (2017-2022).

Colombia: Politics and Government

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in Colombia on the recent disappearance of four Afro-Colombian leaders from communities along the Naya River in Colombia and ongoing threats to and displacements of communities in that area.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office understands that 4 local leaders from communities along the Naya river were kidnapped, three in April and one in May. The criminal group responsible has reportedly issued a video claiming the victims have been killed.I am concerned about reports of increasing violence against human rights defenders and social activists in Colombia. Illegal armed groups are responsible for the majority of these attacks. The Naya region has seen an increase in fighting in recent weeks between illegal armed groups, including dissident former members of the FARC. It is vital that the security and protection of civilians is ensured and the British Ambassador in Bogota raised these concerns with the Colombian Defence Minister on 11 May.The UK also raised concerns about violence against human rights defenders during the Universal Periodic Review of Colombia's human rights on 10 May in Geneva. During the review, Colombia also accepted UK recommendations to improve protective measures for human rights defenders.

Israel: Bedouin

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the proposed removal of Palestinian families from Khan Al-Ahmar in order to expand the Kfar Adumim settlement; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary raised the issue of the Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 6 June. He also issued a statement on 1 June calling on Israel to reconsider its proposals to demolish the village and expressing concern that Israel was planning to expand the settlement of Kfar Adumim beside Khan al-Ahmar. I visited the village during my visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 30 May. I met with the Israeli Minister of Planning on 31st May and I emphasised the UK’s concern at the village’s imminent demolition.

North Korea: Peace Negotiations

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2017 to Question 8500, on North Korea: Peace Negotiations, if he will make representations to the President of the United States to include the Peoples Republic of China in future meetings between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Mark Field: ​The US has our full support in pursuing talks with North Korea. The summit in Singapore has unlocked a process that we hope will lead to swift, concrete actions by North Korea to denuclearise as required by multiple UN Security Council Resolutions. Engaging China on US-North Korea negotiations and on sanctions implementation will be key to a successful outcome.

Tashi Wangchuk

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether and with whom he has had discussions on (a) the release of Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan language activist jailed for five years by the Chinese Government and (b) promoting the right to peaceful protest in that country.

Mark Field: We remain concerned at the handling of the case of the Tibetan language advocate Tashi Wangchuk; his case raises serious concerns about due process and transparency of justice in China. A UK diplomat attempted to attend his trial in January and the FCO tweeted about our concerns following his sentencing. We most recently raised his case with the Chinese Government at the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue in June 2017​

World War II: Compensation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the total amount of compensation paid by the German Government to the UK Government as reparations for World War II.

Sir Alan Duncan: This information is not readily available and would incur disproportionate cost to retrieve.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Ilois

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2018 to Question 14886, on participation of Chagossians in scientific and conservation work in the British Indian Ocean Territory, whether this was before or after the 2015 FCO consultation; and in which years the visits took place.

Sir Alan Duncan: Seven people of Chagossian heritage visited the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), prior to the start of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s BIOT Resettlement Policy Review consultation in 2015. One of these people visited as part of a science expedition in 2012, the other six visited as part of the Connect Chagos project, one in 2012, one in 2013, one in 2014 and three in 2015. One further person of Chagossian heritage visited BIOT as part of the Connect Chagos project in 2016, after the consultation had ended.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Free Movement of People

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the abolition of the right of onward freedom of movement for UK citizens living in the EU on those citizens after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: Throughout the process of the negotiations we have sought to understand the unique challenges of our UK nationals already living in the EU, including the right of onward movement.Ministers from the Department for Exiting the European Union have met delegates from groups representing UK nationals in the EU, to hear their views and concerns. Our Embassies and Ambassadors in the remaining EU27 have also engaged extensively with their communities in country and will continue to do so as we leave the EU.We have assessed that onward movement is an important issue for many UK nationals living in the EU, and we remain committed to raising this issue during negotiations on the future relationship.

Department of Health and Social Care

Breast Cancer: Screening

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Oral Statement of 2 May 2018 on Breast Cancer Screening, Official Report, column 361, whether there is a record of the number of women who came forward to say they had not received an invitation to breast screening before May 2018.

Steve Brine: There is no record held of the total number of women coming forward who have not received an invitation to breast screening before May 2018. Public Health England contacted 195,565 women registered with a general practitioner in England in May 2018. In addition, all the affected women known to have moved to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland were also written to by 1 June.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2018 to question 136402 on HIV Infection: Drugs, if he will he make an assessment of the potential barriers to joining the PrEP Impact trial for women who are victims of domestic violence.

Steve Brine: The HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Impact Trial Team works together with the Trial Community Advisory Board to address issues regarding barriers to recruitment. A number of workstreams are ongoing or planned to specifically address access to the trial by women. These include a review of risk factors and associated vulnerabilities among women recruited to the trial; interviews with women to explore the facilitators and barriers to accessing PrEP; and mapping of activities across the country relating to PrEP awareness-raising among key populations including women. Through Public Health England’s HIV Prevention Innovation Fund, three PrEP initiatives have been funded that aim to raise awareness in underserved communities, including women.

Pneumonia: Vaccination

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many stakeholders the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has consulted on the revised schedule for the infant pneumococcal immunisation programme since its meeting of 7 February 2018.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation will respond to all stakeholder submissions on the proposal to reduce the number of doses in the infant pneumococcal vaccination programme.

Steve Brine: As part of a stakeholder consultation on the childhood pneumococcal vaccination schedule, responses were sought from Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Meningitis Now, and the Meningitis Research Foundation. Additional responses were received from the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations, the International Federation of Ageing, and the International Longevity Centre. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Pneumococcal sub-committee considered the responses received on 10 May 2018. The sub-committee reported to the JCVI on 6 June 2018. The minutes of these meetings will provide the Committee’s response to points raised during the consultation and will be published on or before 18 July 2018.

Nutrition

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the five-a-day campaign to improve healthy eating.

Steve Brine: The 5 A Day campaign was launched in 2003 and refreshed in 2016. Since then, evidence from dietary surveys suggest that consumption of fruit and vegetables increased slightly and peaked in 2006/07 but there has been little or no change in consumption since the late 2000s; further information is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey It is not possible to determine to what extent these changes in consumption are due to the 5 A Day campaign compared to other factors such as price and availability, which are likely to have an influence. Due to these and other factors influencing food choice, it is difficult to assess the direct effect of single measures such as the 5 A Day campaign.

Exercise

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on health outcomes of the British Heart Foundation's 30 minutes of exercise per day campaign.

Steve Brine: The Department has not made an assessment of the impact of the British Heart Foundation exercise campaigns. The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines recommend that physical activity of at least 150 minutes per week or 30 minutes per day for adults is beneficial for good health.

Tobacco: Packaging

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the introduction of plain cigarette packaging on smoking.

Steve Brine: The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 came into force on 20 May 2016. It is too soon to effectively evaluate the impact of this legislation. However, the Government is committed to completing and publishing a full post-implementation review before 20 May 2021 and to publishing subsequent reports at intervals not exceeding five years.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of days which have been lost nationally in the workplace due to poor musculoskeletal health in each year for which information is available.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In 2016, there were 30.8 million working days lost due to musculoskeletal problems (including back pain, neck and upper limb problems). This represents just over a fifth (22.4%) of all working days lost in that year. The following table presents Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures for the number of days lost through sickness absence as a result of musculoskeletal problems, for all people in employment in the United Kingdom aged 16 and over from 2009 - 2016. A day is defined as 7.5 hours. YearTotal days lost (millions)200939.3201039.4201135.4201233.8201330.6201435.6201532.8201630.8 Source: Sickness absence in the labour market; ONS March 2017 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/sicknessabsenceinthelabourmarket/2016#toc

NHS: Staff

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of (a) specialist cancer nurses, (b) chemotherapy nurses, (c) palliative care nurses, (d) cancer support workers and (e) other diagnostic staff in the NHS.

Steve Brine: Health Education England (HEE) published its first ever Cancer Workforce Plan in December 2017, which commits to the expansion of capacity and skills, including 200 clinical endoscopists and 300 reporting radiographers by 2021 and increasing the expansion of clinical nurse specialists so that every patient has access to a clinical nurse specialist or other support worker by 2021 by developing national competencies and a clear route into training. The 200 clinical endoscopists are in addition to the 200 by the end of 2018. Phase 2 of the Cancer Workforce Plan is being developed by HEE for consultation over summer 2018 and will take a longer-term view with a horizon of around 15 years.

Menopause

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the training GPs receive on the treatment of menopausal symptoms and the prescription of hormone replacement therapy.

Steve Brine: General practitioners are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients. NICE published a guideline on the diagnosis and management of menopause in November 2015 that includes recommendations on the prescribing of hormone replacement therapy. All United Kingdom-registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC) ‘Good Medical Practice’. In 2012 the GMC introduced revalidation which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, gives patients confidence doctors are up to date with their practice and promotes improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance. The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the relevant medical Royal College and has to meet the standards set by the GMC. While curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they instead emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the Public Health England budget has been spent on bowel cancer screening awareness campaigns in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) has not funded any bowel cancer screening awareness campaigns. PHE’s Be Clear on Cancer campaigns aim to raise the public’s awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, and are an important step in helping to diagnose cancers earlier. In 2017, PHE collaborated with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) to deliver a jointly-branded, Be Clear on Cancer/CRUK pilot screening campaign in the North West of England to promote the uptake of bowel screening. The campaign was funded by CRUK.

Familial Hypercholesterolaemia

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of familial hypercholesterolemia.

Steve Brine: Public Health England develops best practice guidance for the NHS Health Check programme. NHS Health Checks help identify people with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) and also raise awareness of the condition by ensuring those with a cholesterol level of 7.5mmol/L or higher, or a family history of a cardiac event under the age of 60, are referred for FH assessment. In the first five years of the NHS Health Check programme, 6,864,964 of the eligible population have received a check.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2018 to Question 151184 on breast cancer: screening, when his Department plans to conclude its review of patient details and contact the relevant next of kin.

Steve Brine: The details of the review of patient details and subsequent contact are currently being developed by Public Health England and will be shared once finalised.

Sleeping Rough

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the availability of assessments under the Care Act 2014 for people sleeping rough.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Care Act 2014 requires that where an adult or carer appears to have care and support needs the local authority must carry out an assessment. This includes adults who are rough sleepers with care or support needs. The local authority must then decide if the person has eligible needs by considering the outcomes the person wants to achieve, what needs they have, and how these impact on their wellbeing. Where any person, is assessed as having eligible care and support needs, these must be met by their local authority.

Sleeping Rough: Mental Health Services

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of mental health services for people sleeping rough.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has not made a recent assessment of the availability of mental health services for people sleeping rough. The Department is working closely with a range of other Government departments, seeking to understand the extent of the problem and to develop a new strategy to implement the Government’s commitment to halve the number of rough sleepers by 2022 and eliminating rough sleepers by 2027. Effective access to health, social care and wider support services will be one important contributing factor in achieving this aim.

Drugs

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who is responsible for developing the Government's forthcoming proposals on the reimbursement of special medicinal products.

Steve Brine: Amendments were made by the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017 to allow for a new approach to be taken to the remuneration of community pharmacies in England and Wales for the special medicinal products that they dispense. No changes were made to the equivalent powers to determine the remuneration for community pharmacies in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The proposals being developed for England are being considered by the Department. Any proposals will be subject to consultation with relevant stakeholders.

Dinutuximab Beta

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with NICE on the availability of Dinutuximab Beta on the NHS.

Steve Brine: Departmental officials regularly discuss a range of issues with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and have had a number of discussions about the ongoing technology appraisal of dinutuximab beta for the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma.

Dinutuximab Beta

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of Eusa Pharma on the availability of Dinutuximab Beta on the NHS.

Steve Brine: Departmental officials have had no such discussions. However, representatives of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are in regular contact with Eusa Pharma in the context of the ongoing technology appraisal of dinutuximab beta for the treatment of high risk neuroblastoma.

Dinutuximab Beta

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of accuracy of NICE’s decision not to fund Dinutuximab Beta for patients with Neuroblastoma.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients with Neuroblastoma are able to access appropriate treatments on the NHS.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of medicines on the NHS for people with Neuroblastoma.

Steve Brine: Through its technology appraisal programme, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops authoritative, independent and evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether drugs and treatments represent a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources. NICE develops technology appraisal guidance for the NHS on all new cancer drugs, including for neuroblastoma, and NHS England is legally required to fund cancer drugs recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance. NICE is currently appraising the drug dinutuximab beta for use in the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma and has not yet issued final guidance. NICE recently consulted on its draft recommendations and will take the comments it received fully into account in developing its final guidance. NICE has also been asked to appraise the drug dinutuximab for use in the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma but the manufacturer asked for the drug’s marketing authorisation to be withdrawn because of supply issues and NICE’s appraisal has now been suspended.

General Practitioners: Insurance

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to hold a consultation on the proposed state-backed GP indemnity scheme; what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is no additional cost incurred to (a) the NHS and (b) GPs of such a scheme; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the development of the proposed scheme maintains an open and competitive Medical Defence Organisation market.

Stephen Barclay: The Department is developing a state-backed indemnity scheme for general practice in England. This recognises that the rising cost of clinical negligence is a great source of concern for general practitioners (GPs). The state-backed scheme is being designed to provide more affordable and more stable cover for GPs. This involves complex considerations about funding which are being worked through. We consider that focused engagement with the relevant stakeholders on the emerging policy direction is a more effective way of ensuring that the representations of those affected are taken into account than a public consultation, at this time. The recent indemnity in general practice survey included attitudinal questions to gauge the views of the profession. The Government is working with medical defence organisations, general practice representatives and other key stakeholders in the design of the scheme. This follows the Department and NHS England’s review into GP indemnity, published July 2016 at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/gp-indemnity-rev-summary.pdf This set out the evidence for the scale and drivers of indemnity inflation and proposals for ways to address indemnity pressures and underlying factors. We recognise the value of medical defence organisations to their members and we are working closely with them to understand the impact of the proposed scheme on their business.

General Practitioners: Insurance

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the NHS of a state-backed GP indemnity scheme in England.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential average saving to GPs which would result from the implementation of a state-backed GP indemnity scheme in England.

Stephen Barclay: The state backed scheme is being designed to provide more stable, affordable and financially sustainable indemnity cover for general practitioners (GPs). A state backed scheme will enable the Government to have greater overall sight of costs and claims. The scheme should meet the needs of current and future GPs and offer value for money for taxpayers. This involves complex considerations about funding which are being worked through, and we are working with HM Treasury and NHS England to assess the potential future cost of the scheme. We cannot provide the estimates that result from these assessments as this would prejudice commercial interests. The Government is working with medical defence organisations, general practice representatives and other key stakeholders in the design of the scheme.

General Practitioners: Insurance

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has put in place for the implementation a state-backed GP indemnity scheme in England.

Stephen Barclay: In October 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced the intention of the Department to develop a state-backed indemnity scheme for general practice in England. This announcement recognised that the rising cost of clinical negligence is a great source of concern for general practitioners (GPs). Since the announcement, Government has been developing the new scheme, seeking to put in place a more stable and affordable system of indemnity for general practice. The plans announced so far are as follows:- NHS Resolution will be directed to establish and administer the scheme on behalf of the Secretary of State. This means that NHS Resolution will be given responsibility for the overall administration of the scheme;- The scheme will include activities delivered under the primary medical care contracts (General Medical Service, Personal Medical Service, Alternative Provider Medical Service). Other professions working under the primary medical care contracts will be included in the scheme. The scheme will also include work delivered under the primary medical care contracts that are delivered in secure environments; and- The current intention is that the scheme will exclude National Health Service primary care dentistry and private dentistry, private healthcare and community pharmacy and optometry. We are working closely with the medical defence organisations, NHS England, and representatives of general practice professionals. In March 2018, the Department commissioned a survey of GPs, nurses and pharmacists in general practice. The survey was designed to help the Department understand current indemnity arrangements within general practice, informing the development of the new state backed scheme. We are currently analysing the survey results and will provide further details along with the key findings of the GP Indemnity Survey in due course. We remain fully committed to developing and implementing the scheme from April 2019.

General Practitioners: Insurance

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a state-backed GP indemnity scheme in England on the (a) number and (b) value of clinical negligence claims made against (i) GPs and (ii) other members of primary care teams.

Stephen Barclay: The Department understands that the rising cost of indemnity cover is a great source of concern for general practitioners (GP) and impacts negatively on the GP workforce. We are seeking to put in place a more affordable and more stable system of indemnity for general practice. The state backed indemnity scheme will aim to protect both patients and providers from the consequences of clinical negligence and to meet the changing needs of the National Health Service. We have not made an assessment of the potential impact of the state scheme on the number and value of clinical negligence claims, but more generally, the Government is working to produce a cross-Government strategy to tackle the rising costs of clinical negligence, as challenged by the National Audit Office in their report, ‘Managing the costs of clinical negligence in trusts’, published September 2017.

Stem Cells: Donors

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to work with international health organisations to ensure that best practice is shared on stem cell donation.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department provides financial support to NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan to enable improved provision of stem cells for patients requiring a transplant including funding for targeted efforts to recruit people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to the United Kingdom register. This funding has enabled the establishment of a unified stem cell registry for the UK, the ‘Anthony Nolan and the NHS Stem Cell Registry’. Each of the UK’s stem cell registries that collectively form the ‘Anthony Nolan and the NHS Stem Cell Registry’ is a member of the World Marrow Donor Association – a group of organisations and individuals who promote global collaboration and best practices for the benefit of stem cell donors and transplant patients.

Stem Cells: Donors

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide support for projects that work with international stem cell donor banks to diversify the UK's donor register and give patients the best chance of survival.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department provides financial support to NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan to enable improved provision of stem cells for patients requiring a transplant including funding for targeted efforts to recruit people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to the United Kingdom register. This funding has enabled the establishment of a unified stem cell registry for the UK, the ‘Anthony Nolan and the NHS Stem Cell Registry’. Each of the UK’s stem cell registries that collectively form the ‘Anthony Nolan and the NHS Stem Cell Registry’ is a member of the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) – a group of organisations and individuals who promote global collaboration and best practices for the benefit of stem cell donors and transplant patients. The WMDA’s ‘Search & Match Service’ is a global database of life-saving donors that provides a fast search facility to find the best matched donor or cord blood unit in the world for a patient in need of a blood stem cell transplant.

Stem Cells: Donors

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage BAME people to register as stell cell donors.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department funds Anthony Nolan and NHS Blood and Transplant to improve equity of access to unrelated donor stem cell transplantation for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) patients through targeted recruitment to the Anthony Nolan and the NHS Stem Cell Registry. More than £20 million has been provided to NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan for stem cell donation since 2015, and this funding includes very specific stipulations about the numbers of newly registered bone marrow donors, and the proportion umbilical cords stored in the United Kingdom Cord Blood Bank that must be from BAME backgrounds (35-40%). In 2016 NHS Blood and Transplant began a partnership with Team Margot and launched the Golden Ticket campaign. This project created 35,000 Golden Tickets which were circulated to existing BAME and mixed-race blood donors to encourage them to sign on to the stem cell donor register.

Health Services: Staff

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding he plans to allocated to support Health Education England's 10 year workforce strategy; and when that strategy will be published.

Stephen Barclay: Health Education England (HEE) published Facing the Facts, Shaping the Future, a draft workforce strategy for health and social care, in December 2017. HEE is working with its partners across health and social care to develop a final strategy, which they will publish later this year. The forthcoming health and care workforce strategy will be developed in parallel with the long-term plan for the National Health Service, to ensure this reflects and supports the plan. The workforce strategy will set out our commitment to shaping the face of the NHS and social care workforce for the next decade. The Government has not yet made a decision on the funding to be allocated to HEE to support this plan and that will form part of the Departmental budget setting process and the forthcoming Spending Review.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England provide no IVF treatment for people with fertility problems; and what plans he has to ensure better provision of such treatment by CCGs.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not collect official data on this subject matter. However, we understand from data collected by Fertility Fairness from Freedom of Information requests that there are seven clinical commissioning groups in England that do not routinely provide in vitro fertilisation treatment for their local population. These are Croydon, Cambridge and Peterborough, Basildon and Brentwood, South Norfolk, Mid-Essex, North and East Essex, and Herts Valley. In the light of these disappointing local decisions, the Government will give further consideration to what might be agreed with NHS England to support National Health Service fertility services being available on a more equitable basis across England for all those with fertility problems.

Patients: Safety

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing into NHS England a scheme analogous to the Scottish National Patient Safety Programme.

Caroline Dinenage: We note the Scottish National Patient Safety Programme aims to improve the safety and reliability of health and social care, and reduce harm. Like Scotland, our aim is to improve patient safety and for the National Health Service to be one of the safest healthcare systems in the world. Following the tragic events at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the Government has introduced a number of significant programmes to promote and encourage better regulation, greater transparency and candour, and a culture of learning in the NHS in England, drawing from other safety critical industries. To further drive a culture of learning, the NHS trusts are required to review and investigate deaths of their patients and publish the learning and steps they are taking to improve patient safety. An independent Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) was set up in April 2016 and is now conducting major safety investigations into the most serious risks for patients, with a specific focus on system-wide learning and improvement. The HSIB’s remit was extended in April 2018 to include the investigations of early neonatal deaths, term stillbirths and cases of severe brain injury in babies as well as all cases of maternal death. Work is underway to further improve medicines safety including the accelerated rollout of electronic prescribing in hospitals, monitoring higher risk prescribing practice linked to hospital admissions, and addressing so called ‘human factors’ that contribute to errors. In June 2018, the Government announced a further package of measures to improve patient safety including a new National Clinical Improvement Programme that will provide NHS consultants with confidential data on their clinical results and help improve patient outcomes, the introduction of a system of medical examiners and the intention to extend the Learning from Deaths programme to general practice and ambulance trusts to promote learning and enable health organisations and healthcare professionals to learn from one another.

Childbirth

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the NHS was of a (a) multiple birth, and (b) singleton birth in 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Maternity delivery episodes are not costed by multiple or singleton birth. They are costed in three categories: normal delivery, assisted delivery and planned or emergency caesarean. The most recent statistics available relate to financial year of 2016-17. The following table shows the average cost of each delivery episode and the total cost of each category for 2016-17.  TotalActivityAverage cost per delivery episode (£)Total cost (£ million)Normal delivery episodes380,0102,288869.34Assisted delivery episodes81,5973,367274.70Caesarean episodes172,7944,248734.00Total delivery episodes634,4012,9601,878.05Source: https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/reference-costs

In Vitro Fertilisation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the value for money of the service provided by clinical commissioning groups that offer only partial cycles of IVF treatment.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The evidence reviews and recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) fertility guidance confirm that fertility problems can be managed cost effectively. Where NICE fertility guidance is not followed and an incomplete cycle of in vitro fertilisation, as defined by the NICE guidance, is offered this reduces the effectiveness, and thereby the value for money of the treatment.

NHS: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a 4 per cent increase in funding for the NHS funding.

Stephen Barclay: The Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by £20 billion by 2023/24. This will deliver an average annual growth of 3.4% over the next five years with an additional £1.25 billion from 2019-20 to account for specific pension pressures. The Government will work with the NHS to develop a ten-year plan setting out how the money will be used for the future of the health service. The ten-year plan will get the NHS back on the path to delivering agreed core performance standards, and drive the reforms that will deliver a better and more sustainable NHS.

Tobacco

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s single departmental plan, for what reason the intention to work with Public Health England to deliver the new Tobacco Control Plan under Objective 1.1 was removed in the update of 23 May 2018.

Steve Brine: The Single Departmental Plan published on 23 May 2018 is a concise summary of the highest level objectives for the financial year 2018-19 rather than a comprehensive account of all the activities the Department is planning to undertake. The fact that a commitment or activity has not been included in the summary does not imply that there is no intention to work on it. The Government is continuing to reduce harm caused by tobacco. Last year we published a new tobacco control plan to build on that success and on 7 June 2018 we published a delivery plan setting out actions for meeting the aims of the tobacco control plan and how progress will be monitored. A copy of the delivery plan is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tobacco-control-plan-delivery-plan-2017-to-2022

NHS: South West

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the additional spending that will be allocated to the NHS will be allocated to health services in (a) Devon, (b) Cornwall and (c) Plymouth.

Stephen Barclay: The Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by £20 billion by 2023/24. The Government will work with the NHS to develop a ten-year plan setting out how the money will be used for the future of the health service across policy areas, which will then inform local allocations including for Devon, Cornwall and Plymouth.

NHS: Pay

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend the NHS pay settlement to staff of social enterprises.

Stephen Barclay: We are considering the impact of the Agenda for Change multi-year pay deal on those organisations who are not listed in Annex 1 to the National Health Service Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, including social enterprises providing NHS services, and will be confirming the position shortly.

Mental Health Services: Armed Forces

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department allocated to mental health services for armed forces personnel in 2017-18.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department allocated to mental health services for people who are retired from the armed forces in 2017-18.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Serving and former armed forces personnel and their families access a wide range of services provided by the National Health Service in England, including mental health services. These are not identified separately in clinical commissioning groups’ accounts. In addition to this, NHS England was allocated £6.4 million in 2017/18 for bespoke veterans’ mental health services including the Veterans Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison service and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder service.

Mental Health: Older People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce social isolation among the elderly.

Caroline Dinenage: Social isolation and loneliness are different concepts but have very close links. Given also the close links between them and poor physical and mental health, I am a member of the newly formed Ministerial Group on Loneliness. To support the Government’s commitment to tackling loneliness, including a new loneliness strategy and fund, the Department will continue to support policies and programmes such as social prescribing, dementia friendly communities, improved mental health and the recently published Carers Action Plan. Feelings of social isolation and loneliness are not exclusive to the elderly but this group can be particularly affected. The Green Paper on the care of older people which will be published in the autumn, will set out a number of proposals to help older people live healthier, longer, and more independent lives.

Measles

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assesment is Department has made of trends in the rate of measles in the population in England.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assesment his Department has made of trends in the rate of uptake for measles vaccinations for children in England.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) routinely monitors coverage for the national immunisation programme, including the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine on a quarterly and annual basis. PHE also conducts routine measles surveillance publishing data on laboratory confirmed cases on a quarterly and annual basis. In 2017, the total number of laboratory confirmed measles cases in England was 274. From 1 January to 18 June 2018, there have been 643 lab confirmed cases, with London (225), the South East (137), West Midlands (82), South West (79), and Yorkshire and Humberside (74) reporting the most cases. The increase in cases is associated with importations from outbreaks in Europe that have led to some limited spread in the population, particularly in young people and adults who missed out on MMR vaccine when they were younger. Annual national statistics from 2016/17 show that coverage for the first dose of MMR vaccine in five year olds reached the World Health Organization target of 95% for the first time. This continues an improving coverage trend which has seen figures improve year on year since 2006-07. Coverage for MMR vaccine in England for children reaching their second birthday fell to 91.6% in 2016-17 compared to 91.9% in 2015-16. This is the third consecutive year that MMR coverage has been decreasing. PHE is working closely with the National Health Service and with staff in general practice where most vaccinations are delivered, to improve uptake for the routine childhood immunisation programme.

General Practitioners

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP appointments were made in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire in the last five years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: Information on general practitioner appointments at local and national level is not collected or held centrally.

Out-patients: Attendance

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of missed appointments in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Stephen Barclay: This information is not collected centrally; however this is an issue which I have asked Departmental officials to consider.

Preventive Medicine: Warwickshire

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of the Government's funding to Coventry and Warwickshire's sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) on prevention programmes in that region; and how much such funding has been granted to that STP to date.

Stephen Barclay: Coventry and Warwickshire's sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) has not received any STP funding for prevention programmes to date. NHS England and the local authority will contribute to funding prevention programmes locally, but detailed figures on this are not held centrally.

NHS: Foreign Nationals

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the bill given to foreign patients using NHS services is not itemised; and whether his Department has any plans to introduced itemised bills for such patients.

Stephen Barclay: Entitlement to free National Health Service care is principally based on being ‘ordinarily resident’ in the United Kingdom. Broadly, this means living here on a lawful and properly settled basis for the time being, with non-European Economic Area nationals subject to immigration control also being required to have an immigration status of ‘indefinite leave to remain’. It is not based on nationality. A person not ordinarily resident in the UK is an ‘overseas visitor’ for the purposes of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations (the ‘Charging Regulations’). The national guidance sets out that those patients who are identified as chargeable must be charged using either the national tariff or a locally agreed tariff if there is no national tariff for the treatment or service provided. If and when it is established that charges apply, the NHS body must inform the patient and present them with an invoice for the treatment they have received or an estimation of the charges they are liable for in respect of any future treatment.

Mental Health Services: Out of Area Treatment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children and young people within the Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group were sent out of area to receive mental health treatment in every year since 2015.

Jackie Doyle-Price: For children and young people, information is not available in the format requested. For adults, a new interim data collection on out of area placements in acute care began on 17 October 2016. The only full year for which data is available is 2017/18. 30 adult acute mental health care Out of Area Placements started during the year 2017/18 in NHS Coventry And Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group. This figure has been rounded to the nearest five.

Prescriptions: ICT

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of dispensing points will have a Falsified Medicines Directive compliant IT system in place by February 2019.

Steve Brine: The European Union Delegated Regulation on ‘safety features’ under the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) comes into force in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2019 and will be directly applicable on all relevant actors in the medicines supply chain, including those dispensing medicines. Healthcare institutions (hospitals and general practitioner practices) and pharmacies will need to be able to decommission products from the national repository by this time. However, in the case of other places where medicines are supplied to patients the delegated regulation allows member states some flexibilities as to where products are decommissioned in the medicines supply chain. A UK Government consultation on the implementation of the FMD will be released shortly. The consultation and accompanying impact assessment will focus on where the UK has the scope to legislate making use of the flexibilities. The number of dispensing points that will need to have FMD compliant IT systems in place by February 2019 is dependent on the outcome of the consultation.

Prescriptions: ICT

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what penalties will be levied on (a) hospitals, (b) dispensing doctors and (c) community pharmacies if IT systems are found to be not compliant with the Falsified Medicines Directive by February 2019.

Steve Brine: A United Kingdom Government consultation on the implementation of the European Union Delegated Regulation on ‘safety features’ under the Falsified Medicines Directive will be released shortly. The consultation and accompanying impact assessment will focus on where the UK has legal scope to make changes. This will include the Government’s proposals over penalties and sanctions on hospitals, dispensing doctors and community pharmacies.

Prescriptions

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the full cost of implementing the Falsified Medicines Directive is in hospitals, dispensing doctor practices and community pharmacies.

Steve Brine: The Government is continuing work with stakeholders to assess the full costs of implementing the ‘safety features’ under the Falsified Medicines Directive in the United Kingdom taking account of the different approaches and use of the flexibilities allowed by the delegated regulation. The European Union has published an assessment of the overall impact of the Delegated Regulation, which includes information on hospitals, doctors and pharmacy, and is available at the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/impact/ia_carried_out/docs/ia_2015/swd_2015_0189_en.pdf

Pneumonia: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 6 June to question 148810 on Pneumonia: Vaccination, which organisations carried out the modelling reviewed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the effect of change in the infant vaccination schedule on the incidence of (a) invasive pneumococcal disease and (b) non-invasive pneumococcal disease.

Steve Brine: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has reviewed modelling by Public Health England on the impact of a reduced dose pneumococcal conjugate vaccine schedule on invasive pneumococcal disease in the United Kingdom. The JCVI has also considered the relative impact on non-invasive disease.

Department of Health and Social Care: Public Expenditure

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the (a) Resources Department Expenditure Limit and (b) Capital Department Expenditure Limit for his Department in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20 and (d) 2020-21.

Stephen Barclay: The Department’s Revenue Department Expenditure Limit (RDEL) and Capital Department Expenditure Limit (CDEL) for the years 2017-18 to 2020-21 can be found in the following table. Department of Health and Social Care RDEL and CDEL, 2017-18 to 2020-21  2017-1812018-1922019-2032020-214£ billion£ billion£ billion£ billionRDEL (including depreciation)121.3123.5125.7128.7CDEL5.66.46.76.8Notes:   1Figures are from Page 151 of the 2017-18 Supplementary Estimate publication. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2017-18 2Figures are from Page 127 of the 2018-19 Supplementary Estimate publication. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-supply-estimates-2018-to-2019  3RDEL for 2019-20 is from two sources. The 2017 Autumn Budget statement shows the RDEL (excluding depreciation) of £124.2 billion which can be found in table 1.7. The depreciation of £1.5 billion can be found in Annex A page 164, of the 2016-17 Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report. The CDEL can be found in table 1.8 of the 2017 Autumn Budget statement. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-2017-documents  4RDEL figures are from Annex A in the core tables of the 2016-17 Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report. CDEL figures are from table 1.8 of the 2017 Autumn Budget statement. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-of-health-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017 The Prime Minister has announced a five year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by £20 billion, in real terms, by 2023-24. The figures in the table exclude the associated planned additions to resource budgets for NHS England in 2019-20 and 2020-21, which will be confirmed at a future fiscal event and which are not yet reflected in the Department’s RDEL and CDEL. They also exclude the additional funding that the Government will provide to the NHS in the current financial year to cover Agenda for Change pay deal costs.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter of Dr Maureen Rickman and Dr Nick Broughton of Southern Health dated 13 March 2018 following unexpected deaths.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Finance

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the £20 billion to be allocated to the NHS by 2023 will include the £4.2 billion for the NHS pay settlement.

Stephen Barclay: The Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by £20 billion, in real terms, by 2023-24. The 2018-19 baseline for this funding agreement has been uplifted by £800 million to take account of additional funding that the Government will provide to the NHS in the current financial year to cover Agenda for Change pay deal costs – as previously announced. The additional funding to cover Agenda for Change pay deal costs in 2019-20 and 2020-21 is included within the planned additions to resource budgets for NHS England in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: Leishmaniasis

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the levels of Leishmaniosis in (a) the West Bank, (b) Gaza and (c) Palestinian refugee camps in (i) Lebanon, (ii) Jordan and (iii) Syria.

Alistair Burt: The implementing partner for DFID’s People for Peaceful Change Programme monitors the incidence and prevalence of both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniosis cases in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Jordan. There were 5175 reported cases of cutaneous Leishmaniosis in the West Bank between 1990-2016. There have not been any reports about the disease spreading in Gaza therefore it is considered a free area. Assessments show Leishmaniosis levels in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria are low. Camps across the region may experience seasonal variation due to sand-fly populations.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she plans to publish the first quarterly update and progress report on her Department's People for Peaceful Change project in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Alistair Burt: The expected publication of the People for Peaceful Change project quarterly update is by the end of June.

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent in Pakistan in each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: A breakdown of each financial year is as follows: 17/18To be published in the DFID Annual Report in July.16/17£422.1m15/16£336.3m14/15£255.4m13/14£253.0m12/13£203.1m11/12£215.8m10/11£205.6m09/10£138.7m08/09£119.9m

Pakistan: Education

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on education projects in Pakistan in each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: In the last ten years, DFID has spent the following on educational projects in Pakistan:17/18£110.5m12/13£64.5m16/17£112.6m11/12£41.2m15/16£78.9m10/11£38m14/15£101.8m09/10£19.5m13/14£90.9m08/09£14.95m

Pakistan: Textbooks

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on funding textbooks in Pakistan in each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: DFID does not fund the production of any textbooks in Pakistan.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional UK aid has provided in respect of the violence in eastern Ghouta, Syria and the mass displacement of people in that region since March 2018.

Alistair Burt: While humanitarian access has improved, the Assad regime continues to impose restrictions on the UN and our partners in Eastern Ghouta. Where and when access allows, DFID’s humanitarian partners are providing life-saving support for those who remain there. We continue to use our position in the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group to press the regime and its backers to allow access so aid can reach those in need. The UN and other DFID-funded partners mobilised support to those displaced from Eastern Ghouta, both in rural Damascus and in north-west Syria. DFID is supporting the response by providing food, shelter, healthcare services, basic hygiene kits, psychological support services, and services targeting the specific needs of women and girls.

Syria: Water

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking along with international partners to help restore water supply in Syria.

Alistair Burt: The UK is funding the UN and Non-Governmental Organisations to support water, hygiene and sanitation needs throughout Syria. Last year, over 2 million people across Syria were provided with sustainable access to clean drinking water. We are in close contact with partners delivering this support, and ensure that we coordinate with other donors.

Department for Education

Teachers: Recruitment

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of effect of the Teacher Supply Model on teacher recruitment in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: The Department uses the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate, at a national level, the number of postgraduate trainee teachers required each year. In 2017/18 more trainees were recruited than in the previous year, but despite our improved performance, we fell short of the TSM target by 10%. The growing pupil population in recent years has seen targets rise; for 2017/18 the target grew by 6% from the previous year. The 2018/19 TSM target has increased further by 4%. The Department recognises the scale of the challenge this presents, which is why generous tax-free bursaries and scholarships worth up to £28,000 for trainees in priority subjects continue to be offered for 2018/19. The Department has also expanded the number of subjects in which schools and universities can recruit without centrally imposed limits, meaning that no good candidate should be turned away owing to the lack of a place.

Teachers: Recruitment

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there has been an under-spend in the budget for teacher bursaries in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Apprentices: Ethnic Groups

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made in increasing BAME participation in apprenticeships in line with its BAME 2020 vision to increase participation by 20 per cent.

Anne Milton: In 2016/17, 11.2 per cent of apprenticeship starts were from a black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) background. This is the highest reported over the past seven years, and considerably higher than the previous year of 10.5 per cent, but there is still more to do.In February we launched a new partnership with five major cities in England, supported by city mayors, to make sure apprenticeships are accessible to individuals from all backgrounds.Our Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network, now comprised of over 55 members, continues to influence the behaviour of other employers to support more people from underrepresented groups, including members of BAME communities, to access apprenticeships.Statistics covering latest in-year data relating to apprenticeships can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-and-skills-march-2018.

Nurses: Apprentices

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have undertaken a nursing apprenticeship in (a) the London Borough of Bexley and (b) London in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: There have been 40,650 apprenticeship starts for the Health, Public Services and Care sector subject area reported to date in the first half of the 2017/18 academic year (August 2017 to January 2018) in England: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.We want to increase the number of nursing apprenticeships and now have a complete apprentice pathway from entry level to postgraduate advanced clinical practice in nursing. This is a huge achievement in supporting people from all backgrounds to enter a nursing career in the NHS.The registered nurse (degree) apprenticeship standard was approved for delivery on 9 May 2017. There were 20 total starts on the registered nurse (degree) apprenticeship reported to date in the 2017/18 academic year (August 2017 to January 2018) in England, of which fewer than five were started in London and Bexley.We have also created a new programme for nursing associate apprentices to broaden the routes into the profession. 5,000 starts are planned in 2018, with a further 7,500 in 2019.We are working very closely with ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care, along with employers and Health Education England to make sure that the NHS is able to recruit and benefit from apprentices in nursing and a number of other occupations.

Schools: Admissions

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2018 to Question 151187 on Schools: Admissions, to how many schools does the 28 requests and the four formal interventions relate.

Nick Gibb: The 28 cases where a local authority requested a direction for the academy to admit from the Secretary of State, via the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), relate to 24 different academies. The 28 requests included the four formal direction cases.

Erasmus+ Programme

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many UK participants have participated in the Erasmus+ programme in the each of the last four years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Data on UK participation in the Erasmus+ programme is published by the Erasmus+ UK National Agency. Figures for 2014, 2015 and 2016 can be found at https://www.erasmusplus.org.uk/statistics. Data for 2017 is expected to be published on this site in November.

Pupils: Mansfield

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) all children and (b) children eligible for free school meals reached a Good level of development aged five in Mansfield in each of the last three years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The requested data is shown in the table below.Percentage of children achieving a good level of development in early years foundation stage profile teacher assessments, by parliamentary constituency of pupil residence 2015 to 2017.Coverage: Mansfield parliamentary constituency Number of eligible pupilsPercentage achieving a good level of developmentFree School MealsAll other pupilsAll pupilsFree School MealsAll other pupilsAll pupils20151891,1491,33842656120162051,1541,35950696620172001,1821,382546967Source: National Pupil Database 1. Figures are based on final data.2. Only includes pupils with a valid result for every achievement scale.3. All English providers of state-funded early years education (including academies and free schools), private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors are within the scope of the early years foundation stage profile data collection.4. Only includes pupils who are resident in England.5. "All other pupils" includes pupils not eligible for free school meals and for whom free school meal eligibility was unclassified or could not be determined.6. A pupil achieving at least the expected level in the early learning goals within the three prime areas of learning and within literacy and numeracy is classed as having "a good level of development"

Children: Obesity

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Childhood obesity: a plan for action, published in January 2017, what progress his Department has made on the physical activity recommendations in that plan on (a) children receiving 60 minutes a day of vigorous exercise and (b) the new healthy rating scheme for primary schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: Every primary school child should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day. The Childhood Obesity Plan set out that at least 30 minutes should be delivered in school every day through active break times, PE, extra-curricular clubs, active lessons, or other sport and physical activity events, with the remaining 30 minutes supported by parents and carers outside of school time. The department does not collect data from schools on physical activity levels of children, but is supporting them in the following ways.In September 2017 we doubled the primary PE and sport premium to £320 million using revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. Schools must use the funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. The premium should be used to develop or add to the PE and sport activities that a school already offers and make improvements now that will benefit pupils joining the school in future years. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pe-and-sport-premium-for-primary-schoolsIn 2018 £100 million of revenue generated from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is being used for the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund (HPCF). In March we published HPCF allocations and guidance for local authorities and larger multi-academy trusts, which total £62 million. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations£38 million of the HPCF has been awarded to projects in primary and secondary academies and sixth form colleges across the country. The funding will be used to improve facilities which include sports halls and multi-use games areas, changing rooms, swimming pools and outdoor active play spaces. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/condition-improvement-fund-2018-to-2019-outcomeWe are currently working on testing delivery models as we continue to explore the most effective way to deliver the healthy schools rating scheme, building on successful resources that are already available to schools. We will come forward with proposals shortly.

Primary Education: Sports

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools Ofsted has assessed for the effective use of the primary school PE and sport premium.

Nadhim Zahawi: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the right hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Schools: Trafford

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much capital funding was awarded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency to each school in the borough of Trafford in the last three academic years.

Nick Gibb: Providing sufficient capital funding to create more school places and to invest in maintaining the school estate is a key part of the Government’s plan to ensure every child has the opportunity of a place in a good school, whatever their background. We have allocated Trafford local authority (LA) over £25 million of capital funding from 2015-16 to 2017-18 (financial years). This figure includes condition allocations to the LA for maintained and voluntary aided schools, basic need funding to the LA for new school places, and Devolved Formula Capital (DFC) allocated directly to maintained and voluntary aided schools. The LA can decide how to invest their own allocations, using their local knowledge of need across their schools. In addition, academies also receive DFC and larger multi academy trusts will receive their own condition allocations and often allocate funding across constituency and LA boundaries. Smaller or standalone trusts and sixth form colleges also receive DFC and are eligible for funding through the annual Condition Improvement Fund. Published data on capital allocations is available on the GOV.UK website.

Mathematics: Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in scope for the 16-18 maths progress measure were from (a) disadvantaged backgrounds and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds in 2016-17.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in scope for the 16-18 maths progress measure from (a) disadvantaged backgrounds and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds did not enter an approved maths qualification in 2016-17.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in scope for the 16-18 maths progress measure from (a) disadvantaged backgrounds and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds made positive progress in maths in 2016-17.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children classified as in scope for the 16-18 maths progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds achieved a grade 4 in maths by the end of 16-18 study in 2016-17.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children classified as in scope for the 16-18 English progress measure were from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds in 2016-17.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children classified as in scope for the 16-18 English progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds did not enter an approved English qualification in 2016-17.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children classified as in scope for the 16-18 English progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds made positive progress in English in 2016-17.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children classified as in scope for the 16-18 English progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds achieved a grade 4 in English by the end of 16-18 study in 2016-17.

Nadhim Zahawi: The requested information is given in the attached table. The data shows disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils who are in scope for the English or maths progress measure that reports on students who did not achieve A*-C in GCSE qualifications by the end of key stage 4.



153838_153845_Data_Table_E_&_M_Progress_Measure
(PDF Document, 157.92 KB)

Carillion

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer 5 March 2018 to Question 129461, what recent estimate he has made of the number of apprentices employed by Carillion who are yet to find alternative apprenticeship provision.

Anne Milton: Holding answer received on 20 June 2018



The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has engaged directly with 1,148 apprentices in England and the official receiver has reported that they have secured new employment, with wages, for 775 apprentices to date and one apprentice has moved into full time education.The CITB continues to support all affected learners and offer a range of support options. They are currently engaged in further work with the apprentices specifically targeting the remaining cohort of disengaged learners. The active and disengaged figures fluctuate, as people engage and fall out of the process.The breakdown of apprentices is as follows:   CategoryEngland ApprenticesIn paid employment699Pending: Terms and Conditions agreed with new employer76Sub Total - official receiver reporting as successfully employed775Moved into full time education1Successful outcomes as per official receiver776Carillion reporting as Active (learner is engaged with matching process and actively seeking future employment)225Carillion reporting as disengaged (learner remains currently not engaged in matching process, despite numerous targeted communications)147Sub total372Total agreed as starting point 1148(Figures updated by Carillion Training Services / Carillion and CITB 13 June 2018)

Academies: Training

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been made available for professional development programmes for multi-academy trust trustees; how many trustees have taken part in such programmes in total; and how many trustees from multi-academy trusts operating in the Northern Powerhouse have taken part in such programmes.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 19 June 2018



The funding currently available for governance professional development programmes for the period 2017-2020 is £3 million. This funding is available for boards of all state funded maintained schools and academies, including multi-academy trusts, in England and is not broken down by type of school.On 9 June, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced an additional £3 million for governor and trustee development. We expect this funding to be available for the period 2018-2021. Decisions will be taken on the delivery of this funding in due course. Therefore, the total available for governance development over the period 2018–2021 will be £6 million.A range of development programmes were launched in January 2018, and registration began in March 2018. To date, 18 June 2018, we have approved 968 individuals to receive funding for governance leadership programmes, and of these 262 individuals are on a board based in Regional School Commissioner regions- North, Lancashire & West Yorkshire, and East Midlands & Humber. We do not collect data by Northern Powerhouse regions.

Academies: North of England

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many business leaders have been matched by the Academy Ambassadors programme with multi-academy trusts operating in the Northern Powerhouse.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 20 June 2018



Academy Ambassadors has helped multi-academy trusts to appoint 287 business leaders to their boards across the northern regions. 121 of these were made by trusts in the Regional Schools Commissioner area of Lancashire and West Yorkshire, 93 in East Midlands and Humber, and 73 in the North. An additional 17 appointments have been made to national multi-academy trusts, some of which have schools in the region.

School Choice: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support parents in Coventry whose children have not been granted a place in any of their preferred schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Students: British Nationals Abroad

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether UK nationals resident in the EU who fall within the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement will be treated as home students for the purpose of university fees after December 2020.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There are currently specific provisions in the rules that provide access to student support for persons who hold settled status in the UK, and who have left England to exercise a right of residence elsewhere in the Economic European Area (EEA) or Switzerland. We have agreed with the EU that equal treatment principles will continue to apply for those covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. This means that UK nationals resident in the EU (and EU nationals resident in the UK) before the end of the implementation period on 31 December 2020 will be eligible for support on a similar basis to domestic students in the relevant member state. It will be for member states to decide how they will implement the citizens’ rights deal in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement. Entitlement to student finance and home fees status after 31 December 2020 for those outside the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement is under consideration.

Carers: Children

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on children of providing care to a family member.

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that children who provide care to a family member receive adequate support.

Nadhim Zahawi: This month saw the launch of the cross-government, Careers Action Plan (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/713781/carers-action-plan-2018-2020.pdf),a two-year programme of tailored work to support unpaid carers of all ages.Chapter three of this important plan sets out the government’s action specifically to support young carers. This includes plans to improve: identification of young carers; educational opportunities and outcomes; access to support and services; and transition for young adult carers.Following the introduction of duties under the Children and Families Act 2014, the Department for Education commissioned 'The lives of young carers in England' (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-lives-of-young-carers-in-england) omnibus research report, published January 2017. This large-scale study gathered data on experiences of young carers in England, and information about the scale and nature of the care they provide and the issues they face.The department collects information on young carers through the annual Children in Need census (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need), which records young carers who are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable level of health or development, or whose health and development is likely to be significantly or further impaired, without the provision of services.The government is working with organisations who support young carers, for example the Department of Health and Social Care is currently working with Carers Trust on a project to support the effective identification and engagement of young carers.

Overseas Students: India

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on current visa requirements for Indian people studying in the UK.

Mr Sam Gyimah: My officials and I regularly meet with the Home Office to discuss a range of issues regarding overseas students at UK universities, including visas and UK immigration policy. There remains no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to the UK to study and the government has no plans to limit any institution’s ability to recruit them. The government fully recognises the important economic and cultural contribution that international students make to the UK’s higher education sector. We welcome the increase in study related visa applications from Indian students since last year and the fact that over 90% of Indian students who apply for a UK visa get one. This shows that international students continue to recognise the benefits of studying in the UK, and are responding to our excellent higher education offer.

Apprentices

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department holds data on the number of apprenticeship training courses currently awaiting approval.

Anne Milton: The approval of apprenticeship standards is within the remit of the Institute for Apprenticeships. Information about apprenticeship standards, including the number of standards in development, is available on their website: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/.

Ministry of Justice

Youth Custody

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2018 to Question 150138 on Youth Custody, what the timeframe is for the evaluation of the performance of secure schools; and what criteria his Department uses for that evaluation.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice is still considering the exact criteria that will inform the evaluation process for Secure Schools. As part of this work we published a draft version of our guide on ‘How to Apply to Run a Secure School’ on 1 June, seeking the views of current and potential service providers as well as interested stakeholders. Their feedback will help inform the final version of the guide and the process and criteria that we use to evaluate performance.

Youth Custody

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2018 to Question 150138, whether those secure schools will be mixed or same-sex schools.

Edward Argar: Secure Schools will be able to accommodate all children from the age of twelve who are sentenced or remanded to custody, including girls where appropriate. Placement decisions will continue to be made by the Youth Custody Service, based on each child’s individual needs and their Youth Offending Team’s placement recommendation, against a view of the available accommodation in the estate. Placements will be made ensuring that a child’s best interests are a primary consideration.

Refugees: Legal Aid Scheme

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making legal aid available for refugee family reunion applications.

Lucy Frazer: Legal aid is not generally available for UK residents to re-unite with their family members from overseas. Exceptional case funding may be available where the case triggers issues under the European Convention on Human Rights or EU law. We are committed to providing clear guidance and application forms to support anyone going through this process so that, in most cases, applying for family reunion does not require specialist legal advice. We are also working with key partners, such as the British Red Cross and UNICEF, to further improve the process for considering family reunion applications so that applicants understand what is expected of them. As the Lord Chancellor previously announced, we are conducting an evidence-based review of the changes made under LASPO (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012), including legal aid provision for family reunion cases. The evidence gathering phase of the Post-Implementation Review (PIR) has commenced and we will publish our findings later this year.

Prisons: Sexual Harassment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault and (b) harassment by staff have been made by inmates in prisons in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) takes a zero-tolerance approach to any form of abuse and all HMPPS staff are expected to meet high standards of professional and personal conduct. Failure to maintain the required standards will lead to formal action.

Voyeurism

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make up-skirting a criminal offence.

Lucy Frazer: I am happy to confirm, that following a review of the existing law by my department, and building on the robust work of the Honourable Member for Bath, the Government will adopt the Honourable Lady’s PMB as a Government Bill. This Bill creates two new offences specifically covering the practice of up-skirting and will strengthen the law, and better protect victims. The Bill was introduced on Thursday 21st June and I expect it to obtain a Second Reading in the House before summer recess I continue to support work across government - with police, prosecutors and others - to make sure this degrading offence continues to be prosecuted as effectively as possible.

Young Offender Institutions: Education

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours per week  was of taught education and vocational training provided to children held in a segregation block in each Young Offender Institution in each month in 2018.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not collected centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.Good education in and out of the classroom and purposeful activity are the key to unlocking a secure and stable future for young people and I am determined to drive forward our comprehensive reforms so that young people are equipped with the skills to live successful, crime-free lives on release.

Family Proceedings

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions the Family Justice (a) Council, (b) Young People’s Board and (c) Performance Improvement sub-group has met in each year since 2012.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions the Family Justice Board has met in each year since 2012.

Lucy Frazer: I refer the honourable Member for Leeds East to the answer I gave to PQ 147778 and 147779 on 4th June 2018 which sets out full details of recent Family Justice Board meetings.The Family Justice Council has met four times a year in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and it has met twice so far in 2018 by the date of this answer.The Performance Improvement Sub Group has met four times a year in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and has met on one occasion this year by the date of this answer with the next meeting scheduled in July.The Family Justice Young People’s Board has met four times a year in 2013, 2014, five times in 2015, four times in 2016 and 2017, and twice so far in 2018 by the date of this answer. My department has no data for meetings in 2012.

Ministry of Justice: Serco

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value is of contracts between his Department and Serco.

Rory Stewart: The total value of contracts that the Ministry of Justice has with Serco, including Private Finance Initiative prison contracts is £3.6bn.

Ministry of Justice: Serco

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) fines and (b) other financial penalties have been paid to his Department by Serco for failures to meet contractual obligations in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has been in receipt of the following financial remedies from Serco in relation to failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010: We manage all of our contracts with Serco robustly and deal with any performance issues in accordance with the mechanisms of the contracts. Overall our Serco Contracts perform well and the performance management mechanisms in our contracts are effective in addressing any performance concerns. Table 1 – PECS Contract Contract Year2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18 (YTD)TotalLiquidated Damages£157k£315k£207k£478k£578k£625k£533k£266k£3.16m  Table 2 – Prisons Contracts (including PFIs) Contract Year2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18 (YTD)TotalLiquidated Damages£36k£45k£42k£132k£66k£265k£422kStill to be signed off£1.01m Table 3 – Hassocksfield STC  Contract Year2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18 (YTD)TotalLiquidated Damages£0k£0.99k£0k£2.25kN/AN/AN/AN/A£3.24k

Ministry of Justice: Serco

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions his Department has issued (a) formal notices of concern and (b) other contractual notices of (i) concern and (ii) dissatisfaction to Serco in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has issued the following contractual notices relating to performance issues for Serco contracts since 2010. We manage all of our contracts with Serco robustly and deal with any performance issues in accordance with the mechanisms of the contracts. Overall our Serco Contracts perform well and the performance management mechanisms in our contracts are effective in addressing any performance concerns.  Prisoner Escorts and Custody Services – London and Southeast 37 Performance Improvement Notices have been issued since 2010. These notices trigger plans in which to improve the service to meet the requirements and have been closed. In addition, two separate Deeds were executed in December 2013 and April 2015 requiring the Contractor to improve their overall performance through a PECS Improvement Plan, introducing a new Contract Delivery Indicator for Liquidated Damages for failure to achieve the timely delivery of prisoners to court, and obliging them to repay any profit made to date and forgo any future profit. Custodial Services HMP Doncaster In March 2015 an Improvement Notice was issued due to a lack of sufficient progress being made in relation to performance concerns. This was escalated with the issuing of a Rectification Notice in August 2015. In July 2017 as a result of an overall improvement in performance, which was also reflected by the HMIP when they visited the contractor Serco exited Rectification.

Legal Aid Scheme: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to increase the number of criminal duty solicitors available to provide legal aid in Coventry; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) monitors capacity across criminal legal aid contracts on a regular basis and takes action to ensure ongoing availability of advice to the public by working closely with its existing providers to ensure adequate provision. The LAA was recently notified by West Midlands Police of its decision to close Solihull Custody Suite for a period of 6 months from Monday 16th July 2018. West Midlands Police have confirmed that most of those arrested and previously taken to Solihull will generally be taken either to Coventry or Perry Barr, depending on the location of the arrest. Following this announcement, the LAA has concluded a consultation with duty scheme members of the Solihull, Birmingham and Coventry Scheme Areas. As a result of that consultation the LAA has decided to implement the approach that the majority of respondents favoured, namely the merging of the Solihull and Coventry duty schemes. The LAA anticipates that these arrangements will ensure that current levels of advice provision remain in place for those that need it in Solihull and Coventry, but will continue to monitor to ensure adequate provision.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for an appeal on decisions relating to (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment support allowance and (c) universal credit was at the Newcastle Social Security Tribunal in each of the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Treasury

Bookmakers

Carolyn Harris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which bookmaker organisations his Department has met with in 2018.

Robert Jenrick: Officials meet regularly with stakeholders from across the bookmaking sector to hear their views on the gambling market, and a range of economic and policy issues. Details of ministerial meetings with external bodies are published at HMT ministers' meetings, hospitality, gifts and overseas travel - GOV.UK

Non-domestic Rates: Scotland

Chris Law: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the business community on reducing small business rates in line with those rates in Scotland.

Mel Stride: Treasury Ministers receive representations from many different stakeholders on a range of issues, including business rates. The government has made recent reforms to reduce the burden of business rates, notably for small businesses. Budget 2016 announced cuts worth approximately £9bn by the end of the parliament which took 600,000 of the smallest businesses out of rates, and Autumn Budget 2017 announced a further £2.3bn of reductions including bringing forward the planned switch in the indexation of rates from RPI to CPI to 2018.

Revenue and Customs: Wolverhampton

Eleanor Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on the effect of the move of the HMRC Office in Wolverhampton to a new office in Birmingham on the (a) women and (b) other people who (i) work and (ii) use that office in Wolverhampton South West constituency.

Mel Stride: HMRC has received representations from Wolverhampton Council, Coventry Council and the Mayor of the West Midlands about the closure of the HMRC offices in Coventry and Wolverhampton and relocation of the workforce to Birmingham. HMRC officials recently met with the Mayor and representatives from the two councils. HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its initial planning and has already published a summary of this to its staff. It continues to undertake extensive work on people and equality impacts, including gender. Wolverhampton is included in impact work for the Birmingham Regional Centre.

Brexit

Peter Kyle: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the dividend arising from the UK leaving the EU. and when those discussions took place.

Elizabeth Truss: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed. On 18 June, the Prime Minister set out that the NHS in England will receive an increase in funding over the next five years that equates to over £20 billion additional real terms funding a year by 2023-24. As the Prime Minister said, some of the extra funding will come from using the money the UK will no longer spend on our annual membership subscription to the European Union after exit.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether single parents in England would benefit most from either (a) childcare vouchers or (b) tax-free childcare.

Elizabeth Truss: Tax-Free Childcare is fairer for single parents as it is paid per child whereas childcare vouchers are paid per parent. About 1 million more families will be able to receive Tax-Free Childcare than currently receive vouchers. Childcare Vouchers are offered by less than 5% of employers and are not available to the self-employed, so many single parents aren’t able to receive them.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Social Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the ability of local authorities to meet their statutory duties for adult social care.

Rishi Sunak: Holding answer received on 15 June 2018



As part of our oversight of local government expenditure, we consider the financial stability and service delivery of individual authorities, liaising with other departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care in relation to adult social care. On this basis, we have no immediate concerns on the ability of local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties. We recognise the pressures on local government which is why we have provided an additional £2 billion to adult social care over the three years to 2019-20.

Local Government Finance: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the validity of reports that Lancashire County Council will have a deficit of £118 million by 2021.

Rishi Sunak: Through the settlement, local government has been given access to £45.1 billion in 2018 - 19 and £45.6 billion in 2019 - 20. This is an overall increase since 2017 - 18 of £1.3 billion, in recognition of increasing pressures, including demand for adult's and children's services.It is then for every local authority to make arrangements for proper management of their financial affairs, including developing plans to meet local spending commitments. As such, the Secretary of State has not made any assessment of the validity of figures disclosed in any reports.

Sleeping Rough: Temporary Accommodation

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of emergency accommodation for people sleeping rough.

Nigel Adams: Rough sleeping is dangerous and no one should ever have to sleep rough. The Government is building a country that is fit for the future which cares for the most vulnerable in our society. We remain committed halving rough sleeping over the course of this parliament and ending it by 2027, ensuring everyone has a roof over their head and receives all the support they need to rebuild their lives.Homeless Link conducts an annual survey of the capacity, support and services available to people who become homeless in England, including emergency accommodation, which is available online: https://www.homeless.org.uk/facts/our-research/annual-review-of-single-homelessness-support-in-englandThrough our Rough Sleeping Initiative we have been working closely with 83 local authorities, looking at existing provision and proposals to boost the immediate support available to people living on the streets and help them into accommodation. The £30 million fund will be used to provide an additional 1,750 additional bed spaces for rough sleepers and an additional 531 dedicated homelessness workers. The funding will also help improve the co-ordination of services available to those in need and at risk.

Refuges: Females

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many women’s refuges for women over the age of 16 there were per capita in England in (a) each year since 2008 (b) each month in 2018.

Nigel Adams: Domestic abuse is a life-shattering and absolutely abhorrent crime that nobody should have to suffer.The Department does not hold information on the number of women’s refuges per capita in England over the last ten years.However, this Department has commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct an independent, external audit of local authority commissioning of domestic abuse services, including refuges.

Homelessness: Females

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how may women were classified as homeless as a result of domestic violence in (a) 2010 and (b) in the most recent month for which information is available.

Nigel Adams: Domestic abuse is a life-shattering and absolutely abhorrent crime. We are committed to protecting victims of domestic abuse, ensuring everyone has a roof over their head and receives all the support they need to rebuild their lives. The Government is building a country that is fit for the future which cares for the most vulnerable in our society,My Department publishes regular statistics on statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention and relief in England. These are published at a local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statisticsWe have collected data on applicant households found to be eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need during the financial year, by priority need category, including if due to domestic violence.Alongside the Homelessness Reduction Act, we are implementing a new case-level data system called H-CLIC, which will be collecting the following categories of data related to domestic abuse and violence:whether an applicant is in priority need due to being vulnerable as they have fled home because of violence or threat of violence;whether domestic abuse was the main reason for loss of settled home;whether the support needs of the main applicant and household members include at risk of or experience of domestic abuse; andwhether someone has engaged with support for domestic abuse needs.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Expenditure

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on his Department spending more UK-wide expenditure outwith the Barnett formula in Scotland over the last twelve months.

Rishi Sunak: I meet the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters of mutual interest.

Building Regulations: Energy

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Energy Performance of Building Directive, when his Department plans to publish its 2018 report on cost-optimal minimum energy performance requirements.

Dominic Raab: The Department plans to submit its 2018 report on cost-optimal minimum energy performance requirements to the European Commission shortly. The European Commission will then publish this report.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Liability

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions his Department has been unable to notify Parliament of the particulars of a liability and thus fulfil the required 14 days’ notice prior to that liability going live in the last 12 months.

Jake Berry: None.

Rodents: Urban Areas

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received from local authorities on (a) rodent and (b) rat infestations in urban areas in the last three years.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received from local authorities on the adequacy of funding available to tackle (a) rodent and (b) rat infestations in urban areas in the last three years.

Rishi Sunak: The Department receives representations from local authorities on a range of matters relating to funding, although I am not aware of any relating specifically to rodent infestations. Over this spending period the Government has made available over £200 billion for councils to spend on locally determined priorities including public health matters.

Mental Health: Alcoholic Drinks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report, Alcohol and Mental Health: Policy and Practice in England, published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies and Centre for Mental Health in April 2018, what assessment he has made of the relevance for his Department's policies of the gaps in the provision of services for those with co-morbid alcohol use and mental health difficulties identified by that report.

Rishi Sunak: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given by my Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care, to Question UIN 146211, on 24 May 2018.

Ministry of Defence

Forces Help to Buy Scheme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to extend the Forces Help To Buy Scheme beyond December 2018.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: It is anticipated that the Forces Help To Buy scheme will continue beyond December 2018.

Ministry of Defence: Liability

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department has been unable to notify Parliament of the particulars of a liability and thus fulfil the required 14 days’ notice prior to that liability going live in the last 12 months.

Guto Bebb: The only occasion in the last 12 months that the Ministry of Defence has failed to allow Parliament the full 14 Parliamentary sitting days was for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship Manufacture Phase 1 Contract. The Departmental Minute and Written Ministerial Statement were laid on 27 June 2017, but only provided limited notice (under 14 sitting days) for Parliament to consider and raise any objections before contract signature which took place on 30 June.

Armed Forces: EU Nationals

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-UK EU citizens are employed by the Armed Forces; and how many of those non-UK EU citizens are employed in the (a) STEM (b) hospitality field.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Catering

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many chefs are employed by the Armed Forces; how many of those chefs are non-UK citizens; and how many of those non-UK citizen chefs are EU citizens.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department calculates estimated costs to the public purse for running bidding competitions.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated costs were associated with running bidding competitions for each of the programmes in the current Equipment Plan.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not estimate the cost of running bidding competitions. Associated costs to the MOD are usually met from within the programme plan.

Military Exercises

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel will participate in the key NATO and allied exercises (a) Ramstein Alloy 18-2, (b) Dynamic, (c) Brilliant Jump, (d) Trident Junture 2018, (e) EADRCC Consequence Management Field Exercise SRBIJA 2018, (f) Anakonda, (g) Cyber Coalition and (h) NATO-EU Parallel and Coordinated Exercise (PACE 18).

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Recruitment

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made any changes to it's STEM recruitment policies since the vote on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Armed Forces recruitment and retention policy has not changed since the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Diego Garcia: USA

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment the Government has made of the potential explosive risk from the US store of ammunition and other explosives on (a) the island of Diego Garcia and (b) in ships in the lagoon.

Mark Lancaster: There are well established procedures for calculating explosive safety distances and mitigating the risk associated. There are more anchorages than ships in the lagoon and they are distributed according to these calculations. The explosive arc of these ships do not impact on any inhabited areas.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the Report,  Rolling out Universal Credit, HC1123, published by National Audit Office on 15 June 2018.

Alok Sharma: On 21 June the Secretary of State, Esther McVey, made an Oral Statement to the House about Universal Credit and recent welfare changes. Part of her statement referred to the recently published NAO Report. The recently published Universal Credit Business Case summary shows that Universal Credit is projected to help 200,000 people into work, adding £8 billion per annum to the economy when it is fully rolled-out. These are estimates, based on analysis that has been signed off by the Treasury. We are building an agile, adaptable system, fit for the 21st century, to help people to transform their lives through work - while supporting those who cannot work and are most in need. The Oral Statement can be accessed at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-06-21/debates/E234119F-DC84-4CB4-A814-69CC6A1441E8/UniversalCreditAndWelfareChanges In accordance with standard protocols, the Government will officially respond after the Public Accounts Committee hearing on 9 July.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) lowest, (b) average and (c) highest monthly award was after deductions for reclaimed debt from universal credit claimants in each of the last 12 months for which data is available.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Religious Orders

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the sections of her Department's decision maker's guide that are relevant in exercising judgement on benefit entitlement by claimants who are (a) members of and (b) maintained by religious orders.

Alok Sharma: The Department’s Decision Makers Guidance is available on www.gov.uk. For Decision Makers dealing with claimants who are (a) members of and (b) maintained by religious orders, the relevant guidance is in Chapter 24 (Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance, paragraphs 24170 to 24177), Chapter 54 (Employment and Support Allowance, paragraphs 54170 to 54177, Chapter 78 (State Pension Credit, paragraphs 78680 to 78693) and Chapter E3 (Universal Credit, paragraphs E3010 to E3016).

Children: Maintenance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what charge is made to the service user for calling the Child Maintenance Service telephone line.

Kit Malthouse: We have recently introduced 0800 telephone numbers for all our Child Maintenance Service lines, which are all free for customers to call from landline telephones. Call costs from mobile phone providers will vary depending on the customer’s provider and service plan, and in some cases, the time of day the call is made.

Children: Maintenance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of staffing levels in the Child Maintenance Service and their capacity to deal with the volume of their work.

Kit Malthouse: The numbers of people working within the Child Maintenance Service is reviewed regularly to ensure we have sufficient resources to answer customer calls and progress cases. So far in 2018, we have recruited 210 people into the Child Maintenance Service, with these people joining us between February 2018 and June 2018, and we are currently undertaking recruitment for a further 300 people to join the Child Maintenance Service during July and August. We will continue to review the volumes of work against our forecasting model to ensure that we adjust staffing levels as required.

Children: Maintenance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff have been employed in Child Maintenance Service call centres in each of the last three years.

Kit Malthouse: All the people employed by the Child Maintenance Service are responsible for answering customer calls. The numbers of people who have been employed are as follows: March 2016 – 4,600March 2017 – 4,555March 2018 – 4,665

Social Rented Housing

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of universal credit claimants living in social housing in (a) the North East of England and (b) England are currently in rent arrears.

Kit Malthouse: The information requested is not available.

Universal Credit

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications are for her policies of the findings of the National Audit Office report entitled Rolling out Universal Credit, published on 15 June 2018.

Alok Sharma: The NAO report was completed before the implementation of a range of recent policy changes which address many of the concerns raised in the report. On 21 June the Secretary of State, Esther McVey, made an Oral Statement to the House about Universal Credit and recent welfare changes. Part of her statement referred to the recently published NAO Report. The recently published Universal Credit Business Case summary shows that UC is projected to help 200,000 people into work, adding £8 billion per annum to the economy when it is fully rolled-out. These are estimates based on analysis that has been signed off by the Treasury. The Oral Statement can be accessed at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-06-21/debates/E234119F-DC84-4CB4-A814-69CC6A1441E8/UniversalCreditAndWelfareChanges The Government will officially respond after the Public Accounts Committee hearing on 9 July.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Schools: Air Pollution

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on improving air quality around schools.

David Rutley: Defra ministers and officials engage closely with other relevant departments on the issue of air quality across the UK including around schools.

Schools: Air Pollution

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many schools are in areas that to not meet the legal limits for  air quality.

David Rutley: This department does not hold this information. Local authorities are key to achieving improvements in air quality and we have issued ministerial directions to 61 local authorities with persistent NO2 exceedances. In addition local authorities have statutory duties to review and assess local air quality, declare Air Quality Management Areas and put in place action plans to improve air quality locally.

Fish Products: EU Countries

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of fish processed in the UK was sold to other EU member states in the last twelve months.

George Eustice: In 2016, the UK exported 324,000 tonnes of fish and fish preparations (excluding products such as oils, meals and flours) to EU member states (worth £1,165million). It is not possible to determine the proportion of fish processed in the UK from these figures. Further details on the UK’s trade in fish products can be found in the Marine Management Organisations UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2016. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-sea-fisheries-annual-statistics.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the background data on the methodology for the new greenhouse gas national inventory report will be published; how information on UK grass and fodder production is calculated; and what data is used in that calculation.

David Rutley: Details of the methodology for calculating emissions from the agricultural sector within the UK’s Inventory of Greenhouse Gasses have been published in the UK’s national inventory report, which is publicly available via the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) website. The inventory’s estimate of emissions from fodder and grassland production is calculated based on statistical data detailing: the area of crop and grassland production from the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture; typical UK fertilisation rates for those crops from the British Survey of Fertiliser Practice; and standardised greenhouse gas emissions factors based on UK-specific measurements. The methodology is based upon a long term research programme supported by Defra under the UK GHG Research and Development Platform. The platform brought together over 100 scientists from 16 research institutes, and engaged industry experts to ensure the inventory was fit for purpose, and accurately reflected UK farming practices. The programme included projects to undertake detailed measurements of methane and nitrous oxide from typical UK farming systems. Reports for these projects are available online via Defra’s R&D portal. A third project integrated existing data sources with the new data collected via the platform and developed modelling tools to support the national inventory. The final report for this project is undergoing quality assurance and will be published by the end of this year.

Climate Change

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) regional climate change partnerships were funded by the Environment Agency’s Climate Ready Programme in 2015 and (b) regional climate change partnerships there were in 2017.

David Rutley: The Environment Agency (EA)’s Climate Ready Support Service provided project funding to seven Regional Climate Change Partnerships (RCCPs) through a collaborative agreement with Climate UK, their umbrella organisation. The EA made direct payments to a further two RCCPs, which were hosted by the EA. In total, the Climate Ready Support Service funded projects in nine RCCPs.The Climate Ready Support Service closed in March 2016 and the EA does not have any official data regarding the RCCPs beyond this point.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of appeals to the Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel against decisions of the Rural Payments Agency were upheld in the last calendar year.

George Eustice: During the 2017 calendar year, the Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel and then the Minister of State reviewed 29 cases appealing against decisions made by the Rural Payments Agency. Of these, ten were upheld in the customer’s favour and a further four were partially upheld.

Rodents: Pest Control

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the powers available to local authorities to tackle (a) rodent and (b) rat infestations in urban areas.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) rodent and (b) rat infestations in urban areas.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations his Department has received from local authorities on (a) rodent and (b) rat infestations in urban areas in the last three years.

David Rutley: No specific assessment of the effectiveness of the powers available to local authorities to tackle rat and mice infestations in urban areas has been made. The Secretary of State has not had to use powers available to him under section 12 of the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 to empower persons to exercise rodent control functions on behalf of an authority which has been judged to have unsatisfactorily performed those functions. In 2017, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) published estimates of the proportion of houses where mice and rats were present in England. This can be viewed at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15723-9 Higher prevalence was consistently observed in older and rented houses, when litter was present around a dwelling and when pets or livestock were present. The household and regional factors included in the analysis explained some, but not all, of the variation in rodent prevalence over time. This suggests that other factors not included in APHA’s models might also influence prevalence. The level of rodent control effort made by householders also varied over time, probably as a response to changes in rodent prevalence. Defra has not received any representations from local authorities on rodent or rat infestations in urban areas in the last three years.

Animal Welfare

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with (i) the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (ii) the Countryside Alliance and (iii)  other country sports groups on animal sentience.

George Eustice: Defra Ministers and officials engage with stakeholders in relation to a range of animal welfare issues including animal sentience. Defra officials had a meeting with representatives of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation where animal sentience was discussed and the Countryside Alliance submitted a contribution to the recent consultation on the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 147405 on procurement, how long each of those contractors has been employed by his Department at that daily rate.

George Eustice: As at 31 March 2018, the three individuals with a contracted daily rate of £1,000 or more were engaged for 5, 19 and 19 months.

Noise: Pollution

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of local authorities in reducing incidents of noise pollution; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley: The Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively in order to promote good health and quality of life. We have strong protections in place to avoid significant noise impacts in our planning system, our environmental permitting systems, in vehicle and product standards, and noise abatement legislation. The Government has not made a specific assessment of the effectiveness of local authorities (LA) in reducing incidents of noise pollution. LAs are the main enforcers of the statutory noise nuisance regime, and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health undertakes voluntary surveys of noise complaints and LA enforcement. The results of these surveys form part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator for noise (https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/noise).

Litter

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Litter Strategy for England, issued in Aril 2017.

David Rutley: We have made good progress in delivering the commitments set out in the Litter Strategy, including improving councils’ enforcement powers and launching the Litter Innovation Fund. The first annual report on progress will be published shortly.

Home Office

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a hardship fund to help the Windrush generation migrants with legal costs and other bills as a result of his Department's immigration policy.

Caroline Nokes: The first priority for any Windrush migrants that may have experienced problems in obtaining documents confirming their immigration status is to help them secure that status. That is why the Government quickly established the Windrush Taskforce, which has a dedicated team for vulnerable people.The Taskforce has established a fast-track service for the payment of benefits, working closely in a co-ordinated manner with DWP.The Government continues to urge any affected people to come forward to the Taskforce so that we can help them. Where people are identified as being homeless, wherever possible the Home Office has worked with Local Authorities to secure temporary accommodation.A compensation scheme for those of the Windrush generation that might have been affected is in the process of being established. The call for evidence for that scheme ended on 8 June and the Home Office are now preparing to launch the next stage of consultation, working with affected communities. The scheme will be set up as soon as possible after we have consulted.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to make changes to the Tier 2 visa system; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing specific visa system for the NHS.

Caroline Nokes: On Friday 15 June, the Government announced changes to the allocation of places within the Tier 2 (General) cap of 20,700. The change – which will be implemented through amended Immigration Rules coming into effect on 6 July – will ensure that all doctors and all nurses needed in the UK will be able to be recruited to work here without being counted against the cap. This is intended to be a temporary change which recognises the importance of alleviating pressure on the NHS and which creates extra space within the cap for other sectors of the economy.As part of this announcement, we will be asking the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the full composition of the Shortage Occupation List.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has he made of the adequacy of the new process for non-UK EU citizens resident in the UK to apply for settled status.

Caroline Nokes: The EU Settlement Scheme will be a simple and streamlined application process, drawing on existing government data and processes to minimise the administrative burden on applicants. We are building an application process which is fit for purpose, and we are engaging with stakeholders who represent EU citizens in the UK to discuss and understand their needs.We will be providing further detail on the scheme in due course.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans his Department has for engagement with community groups on facilitating settled status applications for non-UK EU citizens.

Caroline Nokes: The EU Settlement Scheme is being designed with users in mind, and we are engaging with stakeholders who represent EU citizens in the UK to discuss and understand their needs. Our regular stakeholder groups include commu-nity representatives, employers, the EU27 consulates, and organisations representing vulnerable groups.We will be providing further detail on the scheme in due course.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department plans to take in relation to non-UK EU citizens who do not apply for settled status by the UK Government’s deadline.

Caroline Nokes: EU citizens, and their family members, who are resident in the UK before the end of the implementation period on 31 December 2020 will have until 30 June 2021 to make their application to the EU settlement scheme. We will take a proportionate approach to those who miss this deadline where they have a good reason for doing so. Those who do will be given a reasonable further period in which to apply.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to reintroduce a seasonal agricultural workers scheme.

Caroline Nokes: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 21 June 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The Government is determined to get the best deal for the UK in our negotiations to leave the EU, including for our world-leading food and farming industry. We have asked the Migration Advisory Committee for advice on the UK’s reliance on EU labour and they will help us shape immigration policy going forward.The EU Settlement Scheme will be a simple and streamlined application process, drawing on existing government data and processes to minimise the administrative burden on applicants. We are building an application process which is fit for purpose, and we are engaging with stakeholders who represent EU citizens in the UK to discuss and understand their needs.We will be providing further detail on the scheme in due course.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is determined to get the best deal for the UK in our negotiations to leave the EU, including for our world-leading food and farming industry. We have asked the Migration Advisory Committee for advice on the UK’s reliance on EU labour and they will help us shape immigration policy going forward.The EU Settlement Scheme will be a simple and streamlined application process, drawing on existing government data and processes to minimise the administrative burden on applicants. We are building an application process which is fit for purpose, and we are engaging with stakeholders who represent EU citizens in the UK to discuss and understand their needs.We will be providing further detail on the scheme in due course.

Refugees: Families

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps his Department is taking to support the reuniting of refugee families.

Caroline Nokes: Our family reunion policy allows immediate pre-flight family members of those granted protection here to reunite with them. There is provision in the current policy to grant visas outside the Rules in exceptional circumstances, which caters for family members who otherwise do not qualify under the Rules. The Government’s approach has provided a safe and legal route for more than 25,000 partners and children of those granted protection here in the last five years.We are listening carefully to calls to expand the scope of the refugee family reunion rules and are reviewing our approach as part of the Government’s wider asylum and resettlement strategy. We continue to follow the passage of two Private Members’ Bills on refugee family reunion closely and will continue our productive discussions with non-governmental organisations in this area.Family reunion is only part of the Governments wider package of support for refugees. In addition to those who join family members in the UK under family reunion provisions, we have, in the year ending March 2018, resettled a total of 5,760 people under our resettlement schemes.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the Government’s effectiveness in communicating the need for EU citizens to have had a record of comprehensive sickness insurance as a qualifying criterion for permanent residency.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance his Department has provided to universities on advising EU students of their requirement to hold comprehensive sickness insurance as a precursor to qualifying for permanent residency.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has plans to remove the requirement to prove Comprehensive Sickness Insurance for EU nationals seeking permanent residency in advance of 2020.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason non-UK EU nationals that cannot access Permanent Residency as a result of a gap in their Comprehensive Sickness Insurance policy are charged for Settled Status certification.

Caroline Nokes: Guidance on which groups of EU citizens require comprehensive sickness insurance as well as the types of documents accepted to meet this condition has always been publicly available to all parties. This can currently be found from page 30 onwards of the guidance on ‘qualified persons’ available on the Gov.uk website via the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-economic-area-nationals-qualified-persons.​The requirement for EU self-sufficient persons and students to hold comprehensive sickness insurance is set out in the Free Movement Directive (2004/38) which is implemented in the UK via the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016. We have no plans to change this requirement. However, we will not ​require​ any applicants ​to prove​ ​that​ ​they​ ​have​ ​held​ ​comprehensive​ ​sickness​ ​insurance​ ​when​ ​they​ ​apply​ ​for settled​ ​status​ ​in​ ​the​ ​UK. Students​ ​and​ ​self-sufficient​ ​people​ ​living​ ​here​ ​can​ ​still​ ​be​ ​granted​ ​settled​ ​status​ ​even if​ ​they​ ​have​ ​never​ ​held​ comprehensive sickness insurance.For those who already hold a valid EU permanent residence (PR) document there will be a simple process to exchange this for settled status free of charge. Those who do not qualify for a for a PR document because they do not have comprehensive sickness insurance will be able to apply for settled status once the scheme opens later this year. The application fee for settled status will not exceed the cost charged to British citizens for a UK passport.

Slavery

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many FTSE 100 companies did not comply with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The Government does not monitor compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The legislation was designed to harness pressure from civil society and we are pleased that NGOs are using company statements to hold businesses to account. Two independent repository websites have been set up to collate these statements. The Government is not involved in running or funding either website. Both websites make different estimates of the total number of statements published so far. The latest estimates can be accessed online at http://www.modernslaveryregistry.org and https://tiscreport.orgThe Government is committed to working with businesses and civil society to drive greater compliance and higher quality reporting. The Home Secretary has established the ‘Business Against Slavery Forum’ with CEOs of 13 large multi-national corporations, which aims to accelerate progress in tackling modern slavery, by sharing best practice and offering support to smaller businesses. In October 2017 we wrote to over 10,000 businesses reminding them of their obligations to report and will be undertaking more direct communication activity this year.

Commonwealth: Gambia

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to amend Schedule 3 of the British nationality Act 1981 to include The Gambia as a Commonwealth nation following its readmission to that body in February 2018.

Caroline Nokes: An Order reinstating The Gambia to Schedule 3 of the British Nationality Act 1981 was laid on 30 May.

Slavery

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time is that a victim of modern slavery has to wait for a (a) reasonable grounds decision and (b) conclusive grounds decision.

Victoria Atkins: The National Crime Agency (NCA) regularly publishes National Referral Mechanism data but does not collect data about the timescales for reaching reasonable grounds or conclusive grounds decisions by either UKVI or the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit in the NCA.Between August 2015 and March 2017, the Home Office ran a pilot to test a new decision-making process. The evaluation of that pilot considered the time taken to reach reasonable and conclusive grounds decisions and this information is detailed in table B6 of the evaluation report, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-evaluation-of-the-national-referral-mechanism-pilot.The Government has announced reforms to the National Referral Mechanism, which includes measures aimed at improving decision-making timescales, such as the introduction of a new digital system.

Police and Crime Commissioners: Fire and Rescue Services

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria his Department uses to decide on proposals from Police and Crime Commissioners to take over Fire and Rescue Services.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced measures enabling PCCs to submit proposals to the Secretary of State to take on responsibility for the governance of fire and rescue in their area. The Secretary of State can only give effect to such a proposal where it appears to him that the transfer of responsibility would be in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, or public safety. The Secretary of State cannot give effect to a proposal where he thinks it would have an adverse effect on public safety.If in response to a consultation a relevant local authority indicates that it does not support the PCC’s proposal, the Secretary of State would be required to obtain, and have regard to, an independent assessment of the proposal and the PCC’s consultation documents.

Police and Crime Commissioners: Fire and Rescue Services

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when accepting Police and Crime Commissioner’s applications to take over the fire service, whether his Department makes an economic assessment of the merits of the merger.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced measures enabling PCCs to submit proposals to the Home Secretary to take on responsibility for the governance of fire and rescue in their area. The Government is clear that this does not entail a takeover of the fire service by police. The important distinction between operational policing and fire-fighting will be maintained.The Secretary of State can only make an order transferring governance to a PCC if it appears to him that it would be in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, or public safety, to do so. The Secretary of State cannot approve a proposal where a transfer of governance would have an adverse effect on public safety. Part of this assessment involves consideration of the economic basis of the proposal.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of each fire authority's financial reserves is (a) earmarked expenditure and (b) unearmarked expenditure.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes reserves data for fire and rescue authorities. This data includes both ‘unallocated financial reserves’ and ‘earmarked financial reserves’ These can be found by following the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing

Retail Trade: Crime

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of retail crime incidents reported by the police have involved the use of mopeds in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes data on crime recorded by the police in England and Wales but it is not possible to tell from the information held centrally how many of these crimes involved the use of a moped.

Retail Trade: Crime

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how his Department is assessing the effect of its policy to allow police forces to convict people who steal under £200 by post on levels of retail crime; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that policy on the regional disparity in retail crime offences.

Victoria Atkins: Shop theft is a high-volume crime that has a significant impact on retailers and the wider community. This is why we encourage retailers to report these crimes to the police, so that proportionate action can be taken against those who commit these offences.By virtue of section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, the shoplifting of goods of a value of £200 or less is a summary offence unless the defendant, if an adult, elects to be tried in the Crown Court. Where a summary offence, the case can be handled as a police-led prosecution, and the defendant will be given the opportunity to plead guilty by post.Police-led prosecutions were introduced to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system by allowing for a simpler, more proportionate police-led process in high-volume, low-level, uncontested cases. We have not undertaken a specific assessment of the effect of this approach in relation to shop theft, including in relation to any regional variations in retail crime offences. However, the National Retail Crime Steering Group which I co-chair with the British Retail Consortium provides a forum for addressing issues in relation to shoplifting, which is a priority issue for the Steering Group.

Immigration: Applications

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the length of time indefinite leave to remain applications take to complete.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the process is for considering and deciding on an application for indefinite leave to remain.

Caroline Nokes: The current maximum waiting time for a straightforward application for indefinite leave to remain under the settlement route is six months, there are currently no plans to change this.In the past year there have been a number of policy amendments across specific ILR routes. Information relating to these amendments, and the specific ILR routes these affect, are communicated via the GOV.UK website.

Detainees: Sexual Harassment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault and (b) harassment by staff have been made by detainees in detention centres in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: We expect the highest standards from those we entrust with the safety and welfare of those in detention.Management information shows that there were 25 allegations of sexual assault made by detainees against staff at immigration removal centres between financial year 2014/15 (the earliest year for which data is available) and 2017/18. Of these 25 allegations, 2 were made in 2014/15, 3 in 2015/16, 6 in 2016/17 and 14 in 2017/18. This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.All complaints made by detainees at an immigration removal centre (IRC) are investigated by the IRC supplier in accordance with Detention Services Order 03/2015. Any allegations of serious misconduct made by a detainee against staff at an IRC are also referred to the Home Office Professional Standards Unit for investigation. Where a detainee, or someone on behalf of a detainee, alleges that a member of staff has committed a sexual offence against them the police will automatically be notified, even if the detainee does not wish the matter to be reported or to make a formal complaint.Information on the number of allegations of harassment made by detainees against staff is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Immigration

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2018 to Question 151251 on Immigration, in how many cases his Department has asked an applicant for a visa or asylum to provide DNA tests to prove that British-born children are their own in the last five years.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June to Question 151250 on Immigration, whether it is his Department's policy to request applicants for (a) visas and (b) asylum to provide DNA tests to prove British-born children are theirs.

Caroline Nokes: As per the answer on 12 June (UIN 151250 and 151251 refer), the Government does not require specific DNA evidence to be provided in immigration cases.

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service: Recruitment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of leaving the EU on recruitment into the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Nick Hurd: Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Authority, as an individual employer, is responsible for all workforce and employment matters including recruitment. Central Government has no role in this process.

Asylum: Finance

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of weekly asylum support rates.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of prolonged periods of time on asylum support on the integration outcomes of new refugees.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to improve the methodology for calculating asylum support rates.

Caroline Nokes: The most recent assessment of the adequacy of the asylum support rates is set out in a report published in March 2018, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers.The methodology used in the assessment takes account of the views of stakeholders and has been approved by the courts as lawful. There are no plans to change the methodology, but a further review of the rates will take place later this year and stakeholders will be consulted in the normal way.No assessment has taken place about the impact of the time people spend on asylum support on the integration of new refugees. At the point those receiving support are granted refugee status they are able to take employment or apply for mainstream benefits.The Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper sets out our commitment to working with civil society and other partners to increase the integration support for refugees in the United Kingdom. The consultation on the Green Paper closed on 5 June and we are considering the responses.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision he plans to make for carers in the test for self-sufficiency for EU nationals applying for settled status.

Caroline Nokes: There will be no test for self-sufficiency for those applying for settled status. As a matter of domestic policy, we have decided that the main requirement for eligibility under the EU Settlement Scheme will be continuous residence in the UK. Applicants will not need to demonstrate that they met the relevant requirements in the Free Movement Directive as to permitted activity.

Visas: Married People

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been made for spouse visas through the priority settlement programme; and how many of those applications were processed within 30 days.

Caroline Nokes: Information on processing of settlement visas against performance standards is published in the Migration Transparency data at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-may-2018

Overseas Students: India

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he and his officials have had in the last six months with the Indian High Commissioner on the current visa requirements for Indian students studying at higher education institutions in the UK.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional criteria will be used to decide whether (a) India and (b) other additional countries will be eligible for inclusion in the low-risk Tier 4 visa category for overseas students.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria were used to determine which countries were included in the low-risk Tier 4 visa category for overseas students.

Caroline Nokes: We have regular discussions with the Indian Government on a range of issues including on visas and UK immigration policy.Careful consideration is given to which countries could be added to Appendix H of the Immigration Rules, taking into account objective analysis of a range of factors including the volume of students from a country and their Tier 4 immigration compliance risk.The list of countries in Appendix H will be regularly updated to reflect the fact that countries’ risk profiles change over time.

Mental Health Services: Stun Guns

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 126232 on Mental Health Services: Stun Guns, what the timetable is for the publication of the first annual report on the data provided to the Home Office from police forces as part of the annual data requirement 2017-18.

Mr Nick Hurd: Police forces commenced recording their use of force data in April last year, in line with recommendations from their own Use of Force Data review, commissioned by Government. Police forces are publishing their data locally, with a subset of the data being provided to the Home Office as part of the Annual Data Requirement 2017/18 – and annually thereafter. The Home Office will publish the first annual report on this data later this Summer.

Immigrants: Detainees

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the psychological impact of detention on women released from immigration removal centres; and what support his Department provides to those women.

Caroline Nokes: The health and welfare of detainees is of the utmost importance. All individuals have ready access in immigration removal centres to medical professionals and health care, including mental health services. Decisions to maintain detention are reviewed at regular intervals, and also whenever new information or evidence comes to light that may be relevant to the individual’s detention, especially in respect of their vulnerability and the prospects for removal.Immigration removal centres holding women are required to make information readily available to them on organisations that provide gender specific support, and on organisations that support the needs of women detainees who have experienced violence or abuse. In cases where detainees are being released and there are ongoing health concerns, the removal centre healthcare provider will inform the relevant healthcare service in the community to ensure continuity of care, where possible, and records will be forwarded as appropriate on release.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Regulation

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will publish the names of the regulatory bodies that (a) report to and (b) are overseen by each Government department.

Chloe Smith: From summer 2017 all Departments are required to publish Accounting Officer System Statements containing the names of bodies operating at arm’s length from central government departments, including those with regulatory functions. These statements are to be reviewed annually and republished when there are any material changes. The statements can be found at :https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/accounting-officer-system-statements

Census: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will make it its policy to include Welsh as an option for identity in the 2021 census.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Welsh Government has made representations to his Department on the 2021 census; and if he will make a statement.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including Welsh as an option for nationality in the 2021 census.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
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Government Departments: Freedom of Information

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of freedom of information requests have not been responded to within the 20 working days target by each Department in each of the last three years.

Chloe Smith: The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on the number and proportion of requests that were answered within the 20 working days target, and on the number and proportion of requests that were answered within a permitted deadline extension. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

Government Departments: Freedom of Information

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the longest time was for a response to a freedom of information request in each Government department in each of the last three years.

Chloe Smith: The statistics collected and published centrally by the Government on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government do not record the exact length of time taken to respond to individual requests. The statistics report on the number and proportion of requests that were answered within the 20 working days target, and on the number and proportion of requests that were answered within a permitted deadline extension.

Constituencies

Jo Stevens: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the geographical and socio-economic distribution of voters new to the electoral register since the last Boundary Review was conducted.

Chloe Smith: Government has made no such assessment. The Electoral Commission conducts accuracy and completeness assessments of the electoral registers. The Electoral Commission’s most recent research was on the December 2015 electoral registers and can be found on its website. The boundary review is currently being carried out by the four Boundary Commissions, which are statutorily independent bodies, using the December 2015 electoral registers, as set out in primary legislation passed by Parliament.Registers used for a boundary review are necessarily a snapshot and the registers have always continued to change while a review takes place.

Multiple Births

Steve McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many multiple births there were in England in each year since 2013; and what proportion of those multiple births were the result of fertility treatments.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
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National Security Council

Nia Griffith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 150630, when the decision was taken to make the the National Security Council sub-committee on matters relating to cyber programmes and policy development part of the NSC Strategic Defence and Security Review sub-committee.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 150630, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for Defence prior to the decision being taken to make the National Security Council sub-committee on matters relating to cyber programmes and policy development part of the NSC Strategic Defence and Security Review sub-committee.

Mr David Lidington: We do not give specific details about discussions relating to the configuration of NSC Cabinet sub-Committees.

National Security Council

Nia Griffith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 150630, when the first meeting of the National Security Council sub-committee on matters relating to cyber programmes and policy development took place; and how many times that sub-committee has met.

Mr David Lidington: Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candor of internal discussion.

National Security Council

Nia Griffith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 150630, when the National Security Council web page was updated to remove the reference to the National Security Council sub-committee on matters relating to cyber programmes and policy development.

Mr David Lidington: The website was updated on 11 June 2018 to reflect changes to NSC sub-committee arrangements. This included the removal of the reference to the NSC sub-committee on matters relating to cyber and the addition of the NSC sub-committee on Funds.

Employment

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of the additional jobs in the UK labour market have been filled by (a) UK nationals and (b) non-UK nationals since 2010.

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the number of additional jobs, by income quintile, created in the UK labour market in each year since 2010.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
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Public Service: Conduct

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of systems to maintain ethical standards for people who hold public office.

Chloe Smith: All those who hold public office are expected to maintain high standards of behaviour and uphold the highest standards of propriety. The Government is confident that the relevant Codes of Conduct for Ministers, Special Advisers and Civil Servants clearly set out the standards of behaviour expected of them in their roles. Furthermore, all public office holders are expected to observe the Seven Principles of Public Life which are included within these codes.

Civil Servants: Pay

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much money from the public purse was disbursed in civil service pay by all Departments in April 2018.

Oliver Dowden: Departments are required to publish each month their total workforce costs on gov.uk. These are available on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/government-transparency-and-accountability?keywords=workforce+management+information&public_timestamp%5Bfrom%5D=&public_timestamp%5Bto%5D=

Vote Leave

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answer of 18 June to Question 150605, whether any of the people named in the Electoral Commission report, and privy to the initial findings, have informed the Prime Minister of the findings.

Chloe Smith: Holding answer received on 21 June 2018



The Government has not received an advance copy of the report, and therefore cannot speak to who is named in it.

Department for International Trade

Trade Promotion

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress he has made on deploying trade envoys to (a) the Middle East, (b) Asia, (c) Latin America, (d) North America, (e) Africa and (f) the Caribbean.

Graham Stuart: The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys do an extremely important job and make a vital contribution on a voluntary basis. They support UK companies to win business, as well as promoting the UK as a destination of choice for inward investment. There are currently 30 Trade Envoys covering around 60 markets including in the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa and the Caribbean. Trade Envoys are deployed regularly to their respective markets to promote British trade across the world and in the last financial year (17/18) made 52 official overseas visits.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Internet: Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2018 to question 136923 on Internet: Children, what criteria is planned to be used to define online services which are likely to be accessed by children.

Margot James: It will be for the Information Commissioner's Office to determine what criteria is used to define online services which are likely to be accessed by children as they are responsible for developing the new age-appropriate design code.

Lotteries: Regulation

Sir Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to announce proposals for the deregulation of Society Lotteries.

Tracey Crouch: We are looking at the role of society lotteries, with advice from the Gambling Commission, and will make an announcement in due course.

Radio Frequencies: Scotland

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will support Ofcom’s decision to include coverage obligations in future spectrum auctions for Scotland.

Margot James: We welcome the proposed licence obligations set out in Ofcom's recent consultation on the 700MHz spectrum, including the proposed national requirements to deliver the greatest coverage uplift in the nations that have the lowest coverage. However, it is for Ofcom, as the independent spectrum regulator for the UK, to decide the final proposals and design of the auction.

Hospices

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of society lotteries on the hospice sector;  and whether he plans to make it easier for society lotteries to raise funds for hospices and other good causes through deregulation.

Tracey Crouch: I greatly appreciate the impact society lotteries have as a fundraising tool for charities and other non-commercial organisations, raising hundreds of millions of pounds every year for many good causes including the hospice sector. We are looking at the role of society lotteries, with advice from the Gambling Commission, and will make an announcement in due course.

Youth Services: Capital Investment

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2018 to Question 148923 on Youth Services: Capital Investment, if he will publish the programmes that were allocated funding from the £667m for youth programmes and supporting youth service delivery between 2014-15 and 2017-18.

Tracey Crouch: The table below shows a breakdown of Office for Civil Society (OCS) - now based in DCMS - spending on youth programmes since 2014/15, totalling over £667m. Please note that OCS was not part of DCMS for the vast majority of this period, so this breakdown is in line with the best available information. YearGovernment spending on youth programmes2014/15£117 million spent on the NCS£10 million spent on the Uniformed Youth Social Action Fund£300, 000 spent on the British Youth Council’s Youth Voice programme£500,000 on round one of the Delivering Differently for Young People programme£270, 000 invested in the Centre for Youth ImpactTOTAL: £128,070,0002015/16£156 million spent on the NCS£1.2 million on the Local and National Youth Social Action Funds£275,000 spent on the British Youth Council’s Youth Voice programme£200, 000 on round two of the Delivering Differently for Young People programme£130,000 invested in the Centre for Youth ImpactTOTAL: £157,805,0002016/17£180.5 million on NCS£5 million on the iwill Fund£5 million on the Youth Investment Fund£250, 000 on the British Youth Council’s Youth Voice programme£250,000 for the Centre for Youth ImpactTOTAL: £191,000,0002017/18£180.5 million on NCS£5 million on the iwill Fund£5 million on the Youth Investment Fund£250, 000 on the British Youth Council’s Youth Voice programme£250,000 for the Centre for Youth ImpactTOTAL: £191,000,000 TOTAL OCS SPEND: £667,875,000

Football: Safety

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of safe standing areas at football grounds.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of rail seating at football stadiums.

Tracey Crouch: Spectator safety at sports grounds remains the priority for Government. We are looking into any changes that may be needed, are in discussions with the football authorities and relevant stakeholders and are keen to carefully review the evidence on the matter. I look forward to discussing at length the nuances and complexities of sports ground safety in Parliament next week.

Football: Safety

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which organisations have expressed to his Department their support for the safe standing initiative at football stadiums.

Tracey Crouch: The English Football League and the Football Supporters’ Federation have expressed support for the introduction of standing accommodation. Representations have also been received from the following football clubs about the possible introduction of certain types of accommodation which could facilitate standing at parts of their respective grounds: Bristol City, Peterborough United, Grimsby Town, Shrewsbury Town and West Bromwich Albion. Representations about the all-seater policy have also been received from Southampton City Council.

Mobile Phones: Fees and Charges

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to include roaming charges in trade deals with countries after the UK leaves the EU.

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits to consumers of including roam like at home provisions in future trade deals.

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has plans to prioritise free-roaming for consumers in trade deals after the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: We are committed to securing the best deal for British consumers. Mobile roaming could form part of any trade negotiation we have with other countries after we leave the European Union and the Government is exploring all options. Any arrangements on mobile roaming would be subject to negotiations.

Nuisance Calls

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure the introduction of (a) proposals on mandatory caller ID and (b) more effective call-blocking technology.

Margot James: The Government have already made it mandatory for marketing firms to display their calling line identification (CLI). Ofcom have also adopted a new CLI rule relating to communications providers, which will enable the telephone number of the person making the call to be displayed to the receiver. The new rules become effective in October 2018. Ofcom have also formed a Strategic Working Group consisting of nine major communications providers, with the aim of exploring technical measures to block and stop unlawful nuisance calls. As of the end of 2017, six of nine working group members were routinely blocking problematic calls at the network level, and/or offering their customers a free service to block or divert problematic calls. More information about this can be found in the report at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/110957/nuisance-calls-joint-action-plan-2018.pdf.